By
-*-
"Peekaboo, you are most illogical." T'Nara said stiffly.
The Terran house cat stared back at her as if to say "Yes? And your point is...?"
With effort T'Nara got her temper under control and bent to pick up the sad remains of her plant. T'Nara had kept her previous quarters aboard the USS Robert April at normal temperature for Vulcan, which was 100 - 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
With her new responsibility though, T'Nara could not. Peekaboo was a Terran house cat, comfortable at much lower temperatures. But that presented a problem for T'Nara's native Vulcan plant. So T'Nara set up a shelf with a heating lamp for the plant. The plant could thrive at its normal temperature while the cat thrived at its. Theoretically.
Peekaboo however seemed to have her own ideas on what did and did not constitute her normal environment. T'Nara had woken up to an unpleasant surprise. Her plant was knocked down and all but destroyed.
"No." T'Nara said firmly. It was optimistic, true. However, T'Nara was somewhat uncertain about how to deal with the house cat. The manuals for the animal were written by Humans and therefore not nearly as informative as they seemed to feel they were.
Illogically an Earth book about and Earth animals tended to leave critical things unsaid. Not only that but some flatly contradicted each other. Looking as the smug expression on her cat's face T'Nara began to feel as though some of the books she had read were not terribly accurate at all.
"No." T'Nara repeated hopefully.
"That's what *you* think." Peekaboo seemed to think.
-*-
T'Nara trotted into the ready room attached to one of the landing bays.
"Greetings Lieutenant Chou." T'Nara said. She didn't sound breathless despite having had to hurry a great deal to arrive on time for her duty shift. It would have been most un-Vulcan to be late. T'Nara wanted to avoid this. It would also be un-Vulcan to look harried or hurried. T'Nara managed to look calm and relaxed as well.
"Ni Hau, T'Nara." Lieutenant Chou smiled. He was in charge of the landing bays and auxiliary crafts of DS 13. He was an old man for a lieutenant, but he'd worked his way up through the enlisted ranks to achieve his current assignment. He didn't seem to crave status of power as far as T'Nara could determine. He was content to present a smoothly running department to the Command staff. "There is an assignment for you. The briefing begins shortly in briefing room Number three. You will be piloting the runabout Rainier. This is all I know. You should report to briefing room three now."
"Thank you, Lieutenant." T'Nara said. She turned and walked right back out of the landing bay ready room.
-*-
It took a turbo lift ride down to the deeper areas of DS13, and some trotting around the curve of the corridors to reach the briefing room with some alacrity. The circular nature of the chambers of DS13 led to an odd resemblance in some areas to Starship corridors. The Administration complex was one of these areas. It was filled with offices, laboratories, storage rooms, spare equipment lockers and all the routine stuff that was required to run a Deep Space station. It had been dug deeply into the body of the moon Zola, along with the power generators, life support equipment, main computers cores and operations center. The aim was that if attacked, the vital sections of DS13 would be the hardest to reach.
T'Nara entered one of the numerous briefing rooms in the administration complex. There were several people in there already, but T'Nara only knew the Second in Command of DS13, Gusriton Pril.
"Ah." Pril said. "This is T'Nara, she'll be your pilot for this mission."
"Ensign T'Nara reporting as ordered." T'Nara said, standing at attention.
"Thank you, Ensign, sit down." Pril said.
T'Nara found a seat and quickly sat down.
"We have received a distress call from the long haul freighter Ruby Tuesday. They are having a medical emergency aboard. The ship is run by a civilian named Xavier Michael O'Keefe. Starfleet has a record on him, mostly violations of safety regulations, attempted smuggling and violation of local trade ordinances. He's basically a small time criminal. He has his family aboard but we have no record of them or who they might be. The distress call specified that the subject of the Emergency is one X'ari, a child of some sort. We also have a copy of the described symptoms." Pril explained.
One of the occupants of the room snorted. T'Nara noted that he was a Human male, of medium height. He had straight brown hair with gray streaks in it. He had a very fussy manner. He wore the blue uniform of the medical department, and lieutenant's pips.
"An untrained person describing symptoms of an unknown illness in an unknown species? That'll help a lot." The Human said disdainfully. "Can we get a medical scan?"
Pril Gusriton looked at the Human coldly for a second. "Protocol, Doctor."
The Doctor at least had the good grace to look embarrassed.
T'Nara noted a look of distaste on the face of a blonde haired Human female seated nearby.
"We're working on getting a medical scan. If we get it we'll forward it to you." Pril said. "Your mission is to take the runabout Rainier out to meet the Ruby Tuesday, investigate the health of the crew and treat them as necessary. This seems to be a fairly routine mission, so we're not sending along a more senior officer. Dr. Cavallo is in nominal command of the mission. Doctor, I advise you to listen carefully to the advice of your staff, they're competent professionals or they wouldn't be here."
"Yes, Ma'am." Dr. Cavallo said in mock seriousness.
Pril continued "I want the Rainier to lift off within the hour. You'll be getting an energy boost from the station, which means it will take ten hours to arrive at the Ruby Tuesday. Without the power boost it will take you three days to return home. So make appropriate arrangements. Any questions?"
A caramel colored woman in Security colors raised her hand. "What sort of threats might this situation pose to us?"
Pril nodded "Good question Ensign Gould. Not to disparage your capabilities, but I don't expect any serious problems from the crew of the Ruby Tuesday or we'd send a whole squad of security instead of just one Ensign. You represent a back up system. You're also going along to do a routine security inspection of the Ruby Tuesday. Flight Engineer Ashby is also along to poke his nose into the Ruby Tuesday, make any repairs they might need to make it to port safely and to be a back up crewman in case of need. But this is primarily a medical mission, which is why Dr. Cavallo is in charge."
Pril looked around. "Any other questions?"
No one had any.
"Good. Get moving, the clock is running."
Outside in the hall way Ensign Gould caught T'Nara and Ashby. "I need to know. Since you're my back up, how good are you two are at shooting and hand to hand?"
T'Nara raised an eyebrow. The question sounded paranoid to her, but there was some logic to it. "I am... adequate in these skills. How are you at flying runabouts?"
Ashby grinned. "At the range last week, I only shot myself in the foot once and most of the time I was holding the phaser the right way. But what I lack in skill I make for in enthusiasm. "
Gould gripped the bridge of her nose. "Oh, good."
Ashby continued "I am a class four pilot, though. I can land a Runabout without difficulty most of the time. Just don't ask me to parallel park it."
T'Nara was about to ask what the parallel parking maneuver was When Dr. Cavallo walked up.
"We leave in less than an hour. I want you toy soldiers to do three things. Get my runabout ready to fly, Do what I tell you to do and otherwise sit down and be quiet. This is a medical mission and we don't need you three goose stepping around making our job harder." Cavallo stalked off.
"Charming." Ashby said.
"He's in touch with his inner Chihuahua." Gould said acidly.
-*-
T'Nara caught up with T'Enya on the main Arcade. T'Enya was in the odd stage between adolescent and adult, about 18 years of age in Earth terms. Although T'Nara was 25, they seemed closer in age because of the longer Vulcan life span. There was a wide gap in experience between them, though that kept them from becoming as close as they might otherwise be.
"T'Enya, I would ask you a favor." T'Nara said.
"I am here to serve." T'Enya answered with the proper form. With T'Nara she was more sincere about it.
"I must leave on a mission of approximately four day's duration. I would like you to watch after my house-cat, Peekaboo." T'Nara asked.
T'Enya assented with a very Vulcan nod, but an un-Vulcan twinkle in her eye. "I will do this."
T'Nara handed her a PADD. "Although their accuracy is questionable, I have loaded the most popular manuals for these animals onto this PADD for you. I have noted at the top, Peekaboo's preferred feeding times."
T'Enya accepted the information with another nod. "Peekaboo is in good hands until your return."
"Thank you." T'Nara said. "My mind is relieved. I must go now. We will speak again when I return."
"I look forward to that." T'Enya said.
T'Nara walked off briskly towards the turbo lifts.
T'Enya looked at the PADD. Manuals for a house cat? How... Vulcan.
-*-
T'Nara set her over night bag down near the hatch of the runabout and began her walk around. It was an old custom, taught to her at the academy by a crusty old flight officer named Chama.
"The Computer will tell you everything you need to know except when the computer is lying. The only true and factual source of data is the real world. So before you take off in a craft, always give it a visual inspection on the ground." Chama had said.
T'Nara calculated the probability of an undiagnosed computer failure that could lead to false feedback readings as a very small probability indeed. Oddly T'Nara also found that a walk around inspection and physically getting to know the craft she was to fly led to a greater intuitive connection with the craft. Therefore, she did it anyway.
Coming around the aft end of the Runabout, T'Nara could see Doctor Cavallo and his crew double checking the medical supplies on the runabout, through the big view ports on the aft end of the Runabout. The module the Rainier was carrying was divided into three main sections. A very cramped bunk section and fresher, an extensive engineering tool rack, and a mini-sickbay. It was standard equipment for a search and rescue mission.
Around the other side, T'Nara discovered Ashby making his own inspection.
"What is your judgement of the Rainier's flight readiness, Engineer?" T'Nara asked.
"She seems to be in good shape, Pilot." Ashby said gravely. "Not that I think Lt. Chou would ever let a ship launch in less than perfect condition."
"Then what purpose does your inspection serve?" T'Nara asked.
"It keeps me away from Dr. Cavallo." Ashby said grimly. "He demanded that we dump all the engineering tools to make room for more medical supplies. We settled that, but I really don't want to know what he's coming up with next."
T'Nara nodded. "Coping with adversity is the mark of a true..." She searched for the right Standard word "Professional."
"If I make it through this mission without killing him, I'll be professional enough to make Admiral." Ashby said.
-*-
T'Nara entered the runabout and tossed her bag on one of the unoccupied bunks, then she went forward to the flight deck. She found Ensign Gould there working idly at tactical scanners.
"Greetings." T'Nara said. "Do you expect trouble with the Ruby Tuesday?"
"Nope. Just finding something constructive to do while staying out of Dr. Cavallo's way." Gould said.
"A common goal on this mission." T'Nara said.
"Wait until you really talk with him. You'll get the full force of his personality." Gould said. "Oh well. This is the first time I have been the chief Security officer and tactical officer. It'll look good on my resume."
"I believe this is called 'looking on the bright side'?" T'Nara said.
"Yes," Gould said. "Maybe not logical but often quite necessary."
"On the contrary, a good attitude is quite logical." T'Nara said.
"Let's hope we still think so when this mission is over."
-*-
"Deep Space Thirteen Control, Rainier requests permission to launch." T'Nara said.
"Permission granted Rainier." The Space control officer said. "Safe journey. Engineering reports ready for subspace field transfer."
"Acknowledged, Control. The Rainier is on her way." T'Nara piloted up and to the entrance of the landing bay then delicately through the large doors of the landing bay. T'Nara could feel the gummy feel of the force field that held the air in the landing bay with the doors open as the Rainier slipped through it. Once clear she pointed the nose at the designated area of space and advanced the impulse drive to full throttle.
As the Runabout left the surface of the planet behind Cavallo sitting in the science officer's chair said "Do you have to take off so fast?"
T'Nara looked at Cavallo and raised an eyebrow at him. "On a medical emergency response mission, does every second not count?" The question obscured the fact that T'Nara always took off that way.
Cavallo grunted. "Does the patient no good if you kill the doctor." Then he let it drop.
Within a few minutes the Rainier was in position over the powerful subspace array on the surface of the small planetoid. T'Nara turned to Ashby. "Engineer, are you ready to begin the energy transfer?"
"Yes, Pilot, I certainly am." Ashby replied.
T'Nara looked at Cavallo "With your permission, Doctor."
"Oh, go right on ahead." Cavallo waved a hand in a dismissive way.
T'Nara reopened the channel to Control. "Rainier to Deep Space Thirteen Control, we are ready to begin energy transfer."
"Control to Rainier, here it comes."
A beam of subspace energy targeted the Rainier. Usually this powerful energy was used for communication or scanning deep space, but this time it was used to supercharge the engines of the runabout. This gave her a much higher FTL cruising speed that the runabout could achieve on her own.
The warp engine nacelles soaked up the energy. Within a few moments Ashby said "That's enough. We're ready."
T'Nara sent the signal to DS13 Control to stop the beam. As soon as the beam cut out, T'Nara programmed the course of the runabout to avoid the asteroid belt at the edge of the system, and then to continue on their towards the stricken freighter.
With streaks of rainbow color and burst of energy the Runabout Rainier went to warp speed.
-*-
T'Nara went into the rear of the runabout. She went to the replicator and ordered a cup of Vulcan tea with honey.
"Shouldn't you be flying this boat?" Cavallo asked
"I believe that the autopilot and Ensign Ashby have things well in hand, Sir." T'Nara replied reasonably.
"Hmph." Cavallo stomped off.
The blonde haired woman who worked with Cavallo approached T'Nara. "<Greetings>" She said in passable Vulcan.
"And you." T'Nara responded in standard.
"I'm Elizabeth Nelson." The woman said. She proved that she knew Vulcans by not offering to shake hands. To touch telepaths it was a much more intimate gesture than was reasonable.
"T'Nara of Vulcan." T'Nara replied.
"Pleased to meet you." Elizabeth said. Elizabeth got her own beverage out of the replicator, coffee. "You're new to Deep Space Thirteen, aren't you?"
"Correct. I transferred there sixteen days ago." T'Nara said.
"Ah. I've been there a little while longer myself." The Terran woman waved to the two stubby chairs built into the walls of the galley. "Shall we sit? I'd like to know more about you, if you don't mind."
T'Nara nodded and sat down with the Nurse.
"What part of Vulcan are you from?" Elizabeth asked.
"ShiKahr City. " T'Nara answered "What part of Earth are you from?"
Elizabeth smiled faintly "I was born aboard the USS Wanderer."
T'Nara nodded "Unusual. What was it like to grow up on a starship?"
"I didn't spend my whole childhood on the Wanderer," Elizabeth pointed out. "We lived in San Francisco, too. Living on a starship as a child is hard to explain. I grew up with an awareness that I lived in a small, man-made and cozy world. I thought the scale of it was just right. At that time the Wanderer had a very family like atmosphere. I still sort of miss it. And what was it like growing up in ShiKahr?"
T'Nara struggled with the description. She'd tried number of different way to answer the question, but had not found a comfortable one, yet. "I believe that you would find it... hot."
Elizabeth smirked. "I heard that ShiKahr was the home of Sarek and his family. Did you ever see Sarek or Spock?"
T'Nara understood that Spock and, to a lesser degree, Sarek were held in celebrity status by some people in the Federation. She didn't really understand why, although she clearly understood the weight of tradition and history that seemed to follow them around. "Yes. My Grandfather used to meet with Sarek regularly. I saw Spock once, at a distance. We did not speak."
"Your grandfather knew Sarek, though." Elizabeth said.
"Yes. They worked in the same field." T'Nara explained.
"Your grandfather was a diplomat?"
T'Nara repressed the childhood impulse to say that her grandfather was *the* diplomat. "Yes, he was."
"Who was your grandfather?" Elizabeth asked.
"Soren." T'Nara said. A number of people knew the name idly from their history lessons. If they liked history, then they usually considered Soren another Celebrity.
"Your grandfather was Soren the Elder?" Elizabeth said, impressed.
"Yes." T'Nara said.
"Does that impose any pressure on you?" Elizabeth asked. "I don't know a lot about how Vulcans view such things."
"We view them logically." T'Nara said. "My people have a great respect for tradition and history. My family has a great deal of history to respect." Her tone turned very faintly sour at this.
Elizabeth sighed "I know what you mean. Starfleet is sprinkled with Nelsons and has been since the Romulan War."
T'Nara spoke the earliest Nelson name she could remember. "Captain Howard Nelson, of the USS Grant."
Elizabeth nodded. "He was the first, but not the last."
T'Nara nodded. "You would be the most recent."
Elizabeth grinned. "Yep. I'm the last link in a long chain."
T'Nara quirked an eyebrow. "Does this put pressure on you?"
"It sure does."
T'Nara nodded in rational commiseration.
"Is that what you're doing in Starfleet? Pursuing the family tradition?" Elizabeth asked.
"No." T'Nara replied. "In fact Starfleet for me represents a chance to establish my own identity away from ShiKahr and my family's history."
"Good. Good for you." Elizabeth said decisively.
"And what does Starfleet represent for you?" T'Nara asked.
Elizabeth smiled broadly "An opportunity to be a Nurse. I have two older siblings who are carrying forward the Family's Starfleet tradition."
T'Nara rolled the odd phrase through her mouth. "That's good for you."
"If you two are done with your coffee break now," Dr Cavallo said interrupting, "There is still some prep work left."
"Yes, Doctor." Elizabeth said, rising smoothly. "T'Nara we haven't gotten to your physical exam for your transfer, yet."
T'Nara's eyebrow quirked. "I had a physical a month before I transferred off the Robert April. Is that not sufficient?"
Elizabeth smiled faintly as she left the runabout's tiny galley. "Sorry. Each time you transfer it's a new physical. Regulations."
"I will make an appointment to be examined as soon as practical." T'Nara said.
"Good. Talk to you then." Elizabeth replied.
-*-
T'Lanar looked at her instruments carefully. She was in the new astrometrics lab of Deep Space Thirteen. It was based on the innovative design of the USS Voyager's astrometrics lab. A lot of starships and bases were getting them.
As a Science officer T'Lanar was enthusiastic about the new range of tools offered to her by the new lab design. It included new computers and a few new sensors. However, what it did mostly was to look through DS13's sensors in a whole new way. The lab was a lovely tool to work with.
Right now T'Lanar wasn't looking at her new tools but what they were showing her. She felt as if she had been blind earlier and now could see. T'Lanar was systematically getting to know the space around DS13 intimately. Moreover, there were surprises in it.
T'Lanar was looking one surprise that was not pleasant and could have dire consequences if ships in the area were not warned. T'Lanar quickly began to download scans and data for a preliminary report to Gusriton Pril.
-*-
The Ruby Tuesday was a long, fat tube. It was flattened along the bottom and rose to a very gentle point on the top. There was a bulge on the to the front most upper edge with windows, that was the bridge. There was another bulge three quarters of the way towards the back along the spine of the ship. From it two pylons held warp drive nacelles out laterally parallel to the body of the ship. The Ruby Tuesday was at least four times as big as the Rainier
To T'Nara it looked like a big, fat tub. It looked like it would wallow like a big, fat tub. However, she supposed it was a logical enough design for a slow freighter. The freighter was chugging along at a relatively low warp speed.
As thy came to within hailing distance T'Nara reported. "Dr. Cavallo. We are now within communications range of the Ruby Tuesday. Would you like to come forward and speak with them?"
Cavallo sighed. "Sure. Hail them and I'll be right there."
T'Nara activated the communications system "This is the USS Rainier to freighter Ruby Tuesday. Do you read? Please respond."
T'Nara waited for a bit. Cavallo came forward. "Haven't you hailed them yet?"
"I have. They have not replied yet." T'Nara said.
"Hail them again."
"Aye, Sir." T'Nara opened the channel again. "Freighter Ruby Tuesday, this is the USS Rainier, please respond."
The screen lit up to show a Human man with a round face and a thinning shag of unruly hair. His face was red where it wasn't pasty and his nose was bulbous and red tipped. "Aye, Aye, we're here, Starfleet. Keep yer britches on!" T'Nara noted with some distaste that the man was not wearing a shirt. She also noticed that the picture was filled with static.
"I'm Dr. Cavallo. You have a medical emergency on board?"
The man looked confused for a second then said "Oh Yeah! The girl's in a bad way. Thank ye fer comin' out all this way t' look at 'er. I'm Captain O'Keefe. Er... This won't be costin' us anythin' will it?"
Cavallo put on his best bedside manner smile "No. Sir. Starfleet doesn't charge for medical aid. If you'll bring your ship out of warp, I'll beam over and take care of your problem."
"Like bloody hell I will. Can't you people see there's an ion storm brewin' up? Yer fancy little runabout can out run it easy, but the Ruby, she's the slow but steady type." O'Keefe said.
Cavallo smiled firmly and said "Perhaps there is a storm coming, Captain, but unless you let me on to your ship, I can't treat your sick little girl."
"Listen Doctor, yer little runabout can easily match speeds with Ruby. You'll just hafta beam over that way. I am not droppin' out of warp." O'Keefe insisted.
Cavallo's smile froze and he nodded sagely. "Can we do that?" He asked quietly.
Ashby said "Yes, Sir."
"Alright Captain, We'll match speeds and I'll beam over shortly." Cavallo sounded impatient.
"Fine. I'll transmit my headings and warp field parameters to ya. That oughta make it easy enough." O'Keefe's face left the screen to be replaced by technical data.
T'Nara began to catch the data on her board to use to match speeds with the Ruby Tuesday.
"Thank you very much." Cavallo snarled at Ashby. "For making me look like a fool in front of that man."
Ashby held up his hands placatingly. "I didn't know, Doctor. How was I supposed to know?"
"Oh, shut up before I put you on report, or something." Cavallo stomped out of the control deck and into the back of runabout. "Let me know when you're ready to beam me over!"
Ashby, Gould and T'Nara stared after Cavallo for a minute. T'Nara could clearly hear Ashby say "As if you needed the help." Under his breath.
Ashby turned to T'Nara "I'm trying to run down the cause of that static we were seeing. Can you scan local subspace for me?"
"Yes. Beginning scans." T'Nara said. She called up the science controls on her board and began her scans.
-*-
"There is a region of dangerous subspace instability in grid gamma 234." T'Lanar reported to Gusriton "It poses a threat to passing traffic."
Gusriton took the PADD and looked at it carefully. "The Serova effect? We've redesigned our engines not to stress subspace as badly. That shouldn't happen any more."
"More modern ships do not. However, the area has been a heavily traveled trade route for a long time. Older ships did not and do not have the equipment to make their engines safe for subspace." T'Lanar explained.
"How soon might this piece of subspace be disrupted?" Gusriton asked.
"I could not say with any accuracy. It is fair to say that it could become a subspace rift at any time." T'Lanar replied.
Gusriton turned and headed out of the astrometrics lab. "Come with me. We have to report this to the Commander."
T'Lanar had to hurry to catch up "Is there something of which I am unaware?"
"We have a runabout responding to a medical emergency right in the middle of grid gamma 234. We have to get those people out of there before this thing blows up in their faces." Gusriton explained as she bombed into a turbo lift. "Ops!" She barked at it.
-*-
T'Nara piloted the runabout up to the Ruby Tuesday, She matched the warp field of the runabout to the freighter and closed in until the two ships made a single subspace warp bubble.
The subspace nearby began to tear...
-*-
"We are ready to transport, Doctor." T'Nara said.
Cavallo came into the flight deck with his gear strapped on. Nurse Nelson was with him. He stepped into the two place transporter of the runabout followed closely by Nelson and said. "Okay. Beam me over there."
"Doctor, you should send me first and then come after I've determined that it's safe." Gould protested.
"Yeah, yeah, you're a good little soldier. Whatever. Now let's get this show on the road." Cavallo said.
Ashby shrugged. "Aye, Sir." He beamed Cavallo and Nelson to the Ruby Tuesday.
Gould turned to T'Nara. "I guess you're elected to stay with the runabout until we're done. Do you mind?"
Actually T'Nara sort of did. What was the point of exploring space if you never got to beam down? T'Nara realized also that everyone had their jobs to perform and that eventually her turn would come. So she nodded and said "I will stay here and mind the store."
Gould smiled faintly.
"T'Nara," Ashby called, "Can you localize the source of that subspace interference? I had to really crank up the power on the transporter to make sure the transport was safe."
T'Nara replied. " I could not. The subspace interference we are experiencing is not consistent with an ion storm, but I can not tell what it actually is."
Gould looked at Ashby. "Will it be safe for us to transport over?"
Ashby shrugged. "Sure. If it gets worse, it might not be safe for us to transport back. But right now we can over come it."
Gould sighed. "Great." She put her phaser and holster on. "Do you have yours?"
Ashby grabbed a tool belt with an improbable number of pockets and pouches on it. He turned the belt carefully around. T'Nara and Gould clearly saw the phaser hanging on it. "Um. I know it's on here, somewhere."
Gould sighed. "That will have to do." She stepped up to the transporter. Ashby put on his tool belt and stepped up. "T'Nara, will you do the honors?"
T'Nara transferred the transporter controls to her control panel . she said "Energizing" And activated the transporter. With a sparkle and hum the Transporter ferried Gould and Ashby away.
-*-
"Ach! There's more of ye!" Ashby and Gould found themselves looking at a shorter man built from circles. His face was red where it wasn't pasty. His clothes were rumpled and looked like he'd been sleeping in them for a couple of days. One whiff of the man told that he was saturated with alcohol, an unpleasant smell that Gould and Ashby were not used to.
""I'm Ensign Gould." The security woman introduced. "This is Engineer Ashby."
"Well, I don't need an Engineer. Ruby Tuesday is workin' foine." The man said. "I'm Captain O'Keefe the *master* of this vessel, and last thing we need is a Starfleet Engineer pokin' about an' whinin'." O'Keefe caught site of Lila's Uniform. "Except Starfleet Security stompin' about causin' trouble. Both of ye' clear off."
Gould stood firm. "You called for a rescue mission, Captain O'Keefe. Now we're here."
"I called for a doctor for me little girl, I wasn't expecting the bloody Spanish Inquisition!" O'Keefe howled.
"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition." Ashby grinned, but nobody got the joke.
-*-
Dr. Cavallo waved a medical tricorder at the small Green Orion Girl on the bed. The Ruby Tuesday's crew area reminded Cavallo of nothing so much as the small apartment he and his wife shared when he was in his residency. It was cozy, about the right size for a small family's home. The little girl had her own cabin. It was small but decorated in classic little girl. Brightly colored posters and dolls of characters from popular children's media spattered the room. The décor was very rounded and brightly colored as well.
A Green Orion Woman hovered near Dr. Cavallo. Cavallo knew little about Green Orion Women, except that they generated pheromones that were supposed to generate uncontrollable lust in men of almost any species in known space.
Tari O'Keefe looked worried. She was dressed in house wife comfortable, but not a lot of it. The body underneath looked very nice. It was an athletic dancer's body. Cavallo idly wondered how she wound up with a slug like O'Keefe.
The medical tricorder beeped. Cavallo looked at it and double checked its conclusions and found that he agreed with the medical tool. "Okay, Mrs. O'Keefe what we're looking at here is Vegan Chloriomegenitis." Cavallo cross-referenced the disease and the Green Orion copper based metabolism. "The treatment is pretty straightforward." The computer quickly informed him that Genericillin, the most basic wonder drug in Federation would do nicely. It even calculated the correct dosage given the little girl's weight, race and state of health.
Cavallo smiled reassuringly as he drew an ampule of Genericillin out of his kit and grabbed his favorite hypospray. "Once I give her this, in a few days she should be as right as rain."
"Thank you, My Lord." Tari said bowing. Cavallo and Nelson exchanged looks.
"That's not necessary." Cavallo said "This is what I get paid to do."
Tari ended her bow but looked uncomfortable. She was profoundly grateful but didn't know how to express it. "Thank you."
"I do have one question, though." Cavallo said seriously. " Vegan Chloriomegenitis is one of several diseases that are routinely inoculated against in standard Children's shots. Hasn't this girl been given those shots?"
Tari looked miserable "Michael says that they're too expensive."
Cavallo looked grim and started digging in his medical pack. "Since I'm here I might as well cover that, too. Nurse, please work with Mrs. O'Keefe on tending the girl through her recovery phase. After we inoculate her, I'll go have a talk with Mr. O'Keefe."
-*-
"Have you been able to raise them yet?" Creveling asked.
Gusriton shook her head. "There's too much subspace interference already."
"Keep trying. Find out what starships are in our area. If they get caught in a rift then it'll take a starship to get them out." Creveling said.
"Aye, Sir." Gusriton replied.
-*-
"Great Googely Moo!" Ashby said.
"What?" Gould asked. The Engineering deck looked old, unkempt and ratty to Lila, but she couldn't make heads or tails out of it.
Parker could and what he saw surprised him. "This whole assembly here. It bypasses all the safety equipment. This one here - I don't know why it hasn't exploded already."
"But it hasn't, has it, Lad?" O'Keefe said. "Maybe it's because your engineering regulations were written by conservative old women."
"There are good reasons for Federation safety regulations, Sir." Ashby said. "As near as I can tell, if this thing feeds back, there goes your entire engineering deck, if not the whole ship."
"Just how old are you, son?" O'Keefe said patronizingly
"I'm twenty five, Sir, but I don't see-"
"Mary, mother of God, they're rippin' 'em away from their mother's breasts and sendin' them out t' harass us, now. Lad, would ye believe that I have been pushin' these ships back and forth across God's great firmament for just exactly twice as long as ye've been alive? 'Tis the truth, so help me. I learned that trick there, from a drunken old pirate during a friendly game o' cards nearly thirty standard years ago, and none of the ships I have performed this little modification on has exploded, even the tiniest bit, while I've been aboard 'em." O'Keefe explained patiently. "If the ship's being run by Mike O'Keefe, it's as safe as houses, I always say."
"Well, that's nice, but it still violates Federation Regulations, Sir-" Ashby said
"I don't care what it violates, you-" O'Keefe was beginning to yell
-*-
At that moment the small tear in subspace became a very large tear, blossoming in a single violent instant into a subspace rift tens of thousands of miles across. Inside it, space was twisted and warped crazily, into a chaotic, swirling maelstrom.
-*-
T'Nara clung to her seat as the Runabout Rainier tumbled. "Red alert!" She called, hoping to maintain some reserve.
"There has been some sort of high energy subspace event." T'Nara called. She knew that when any Starfleet ship went to red alert it's fight data recorder began making extremely detailed recordings of the ship. T'Nara was speaking for the benefit of the ships log and her senior officers who would undoubtedly review the recordings. "The Rainier is out of control."
T'Nara began to counter steer against the new and wild turbulence that buffeted her ship. "There is a very heavy gravitational sheer." T'Nara read on her instruments that the runabout was involuntarily surfing a very steep wave. "I can detect no sign of the Ruby Tuesday." T'Nara said with some regret. Would she ever see anyone again?
-*-
"What the hell have ye done NOW?!?" O'Keefe demanded from the floor of his engine room. All the lights were out except for weak emergency lights on the engineering panel. The people inside the Ruby Tuesday were thrown to the deck by the violent tumble and continuing spinning motion of the ship.
"I have no idea!" Ashby yelled. "I didn't touch *anything*!"
In a few moments the spinning motion died down to a level where the people on the Ruby Tuesday could regain their feet. Doctor Cavallo weaved into the doorway in an almost drunken motion.
"What's going on?!" He demanded.
O'Keefe was struggling to his feet. He seemed well adapted to the sickening sway of the deck. "Yer engineering student has ruined my engines apparently." He moved to check on the status of his engines.
"I did not!" Ashby yelled "I didn't touch anything!"
Cavallo yelled "Are you both trying to get us all killed? There's a sick little girl on this ship! This is no time for idiotic playing around!"
Gould got up and managed to make it over to Cavallo "Doctor, why don't we let these two figure out what happened and fix it?"
"Are you sure we can survive that?" Cavallo demanded but he backed away from the Engineering door with Gould.
-*-
Elizabeth Nelson and Tari clung to the little girl's bed until the spinning motion died down.
"What's happening?" Nelson asked.
"I don't know." Tari whispered.
"Mommy, I don't feel good." X'ari said. she had an odd expression on her face.
Elizabeth instinctively grabbed for any container she could find. She came up with a small trash bucket and held it out for X'ari just as the little girl threw up.
-*-
T'Nara read the sensors but didn't understand them. The Runabout Rainier seemed to be making different warp speeds in different directions all at once. The odd orange, pink and green swirls seemed to be normal space and dust and particles viewed the through a lens of insanely twisted space.
The Rainier's main engines were down. T'Nara called up the impulse engines and carefully throttled them and steered against the wild spin. The Rainer was being pushed along by a gravitational wave. Sort of surfing, T'Nara supposed. She steered a course perpendicular to the wave and eventually freed the runabout from it.
The she had to decide which way to go. The swirling subspace maelstrom hopelessly confused the Rainer's sensors. T'Nara had to weigh carefully between the logic of searching for the Ruby Tuesday and the logic of trying to escape the rift.
-*-
"I don't believe that this mess didn't explode." Ashby said.
"Near enough, Lad. The main converter's gone. We have no more warp drive." O'Keefe said
Ashby nodded "That's okay. Starfleet will send another rescue mission."
"Goody. Whatever happened was not from inside me engines, laddy buck. D'ye think we might have been attacked?" O'Keefe said.
"Let me check." Ashby said. he pulled out his tricorder. It didn't have the power to scan for hostile ships, especially not Orion Stealth Raiders, but if the Ruby Tuesday had been struck by weapons fire, he could scan the residual energy signature.
After scanning a moment, Ashby sighed "I can't tell anything. My tricorder must be broken"
"Let me see it." O'Keefe plucked the instrument out of Ashby's hand. "Oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We're is a subspace rift."
"You're kidding." Ashby said.
"You bloody little tin soldiers have killed us, that's what." O'Keefe left the Engineering compartment and ran unevenly towards the nose of the ship and the bridge.
Gould and Cavallo stared after him.
-*-
Gould looked at Ashby. "What is a sub space rift?"
Ashby sighed. "It's region of space where there's... I don't know. Call it a tear in space. We're now existing in a sort of state that's half way between warp speed and a worm hole."
"What's going to happen to us?" Gould asked.
"I don't know really. I know that for all intents and purposes we're trapped. We're moving along at sublight speed but without power. We're being dragged along by recursive gravity waves. We can get close to the edge of the rift but the waves would merely push us back towards the center." Ashby explained. "It's only a matter of time before the gravity waves become strong enough to destroy this ship."
"How long until that happens?"
"Depends on the strength of the rift, how deep into subspace it goes. Could be minutes. It could be weeks or months if the rift is stable." Ashby said. If we have time, we can think of something."
-*-
"I want to talk to you." Cavallo said to O'Keefe.
"And what d' you want?" O'Keefe said with a resigned tone. His attempts at a distress call were futile and he knew it. All but the strongest of signals were bounced right back by the edge of the rift.
"You've been abusing your little girl." Cavallo said
"Have I, now?" O'Keefe said casually.
"You've been keeping her from getting proper medical care." Cavallo said, grimly
"Oh. That." O'Keefe replied. "You think your Federation medical care is free don't ye? Ye'll treat anyone, any time, anywhere without the thought of payment crossin' yer pristine minds."
"I think my presence here proves that." Cavallo pointed out.
"Ah, but yer starbase commanders don't happen t' hold the same opinions, Doctor. If I pull in to yer base and offer up my little girl to th' benefits of the Federation, then within moments I'll be up t' me armpits in people just like your engineer, and I use th' term loosely, or that little security girl ye brought with ye. Every detail o' me private life becomes the property of the Federation and it's loyal enforcement arm, Starfleet t' poke into and disapprove of."
"That has nothing to do with me. I'm a doctor." Cavallo said
"It has everything t' do with you. Look at yourself Doctor, ye're out here with yer finger out, pointing at what a bastard ol' Mike O'Keefe is fer not subjectin' himself to humiliatin' loss of privacy and his own freedom, fer the sake of his little girl. Ye're a perfect representation of yer Federation, there, Doctor. You've got yer nose in the air and ye're perfectly convinced you know best fer God and everyone how t' run the show." O'Keefe said
"When it comes to medical care, I do know best, O'Keefe." Cavallo snapped "The freedom you're crying so bitterly over is the freedom to smuggle, run guns and drugs. It's the freedom to break the law, to hurt people and then try to escape the consequences of your actions. And one of the people you're consistently hurting is your own daughter."
"Oh, cry me a river, would ye? Doctor I'm going t' have t' ask y to leave me bridge while I conduct necessary operations to try an' save out lives." O'Keefe said dismissively.
"When we get back to DS13, I'm going to get in touch with social services. We'll see how they like your speeches about freedom and liberty." Cavallo said moving out of the Ruby Tuesday's bridge.
"If yer're alive to make that call. Not something I'll give us odds on at he moment." O'Keefe said.
"Really?" Cavallo said. "You're not just threatening me to try and distract me?"
O'Keefe looked Cavallo in the eye. "With no warp drive, It could take months fer us to get t' the edge of this subspace rift. Assumin' it doesn't collapse, crush us all and spread us all over God knows where. Even then, assumin' the gravitational waves don't crush us before hand, the edge of the rift is a much more powerful and sharp edged gravitational incloine. I don't think this old girl has the energy t' cross that in one piece."
"Oh." Cavallo said.
"Yeah, oh." O'Keefe said.
-*-
T'Nara was flying the Runabout like a mad woman and enjoying it. Gravity waves came from every direction. She had to bob and weave like crazy to keep some semblance of a directed heading. Down and under this wave, Spin the runabout and thrust side ways to avoid the next one and so on.
In the middle of this she was trying to do research on subspace rifts, and the level of concentration necessary to do both was taxing
"Unfortunate." T'Nara said to herself. Then she explained for the logs. "The Rainer and Ruby Tuesday seem to have been caught in a subspace rift. My warp drive is down, however with proper adjustments I may be able to recover main power. That only leaves seven specific problems unresolved. One of those is the ability of the Ruby Tuesday to cross the gravitational incline at the edge of the rift. I suspect that the transport ship does not have the ability to cross this gravitational incline with out being destroyed."
T'Nara searched for a found a specific gravity wave. She piloted the runabout into the wave and began carefully surfing along it. Then, as she grew more confident about the balance of forces, the Vulcan Pilot shut the engines of the runabout down and let it drift along the wave. As soon as thrusters were cut, the runabout started to spin crazily, but it stayed in the wave, obeying the dictates of insane gravity.
T'Nara didn't look out side the ports once she had the runabout balanced in the wave. Getting motion sick would solve nothing. As long as the Runabout wasn't fighting the waves, it could be safely left alone for the time necessary for the first item in T'Nara's priority list
"I will now go and re-activate the Rainer's main power." T'Nara informed the logs.
-*-
"Lad, yer' goin' ta hafta do it my way." O'Keefe insisted.
"I don't see how I'm going to get the main power system back online, Captain." Ashby said.
"We're not. It's a write off, lad. You'll have ta' use the impulse generators ta' reinforce the ship's integrity."
"The Ruby Tuesday has integrity?" Gould wondered aloud.
"She does, Lass, even if I don't." O'Keefe grinned "I just hope she enough."
"If I'm using the impulse generators to hold the ship together, then how are we going to move her?" Ashby asked.
"I'm going to pilot her usin' the thrusters, Lad." O'Keefe said.
"Those won't have enough power to move the ship!" Ashby exclaimed.
"Those are what we have ta' work with. That's why I'll be the pilot, and you're monitoring the structural integrity. Otherwise you'd be too green to let back to my engine room."
"Oh, gee. Thanks for your support." Ashby said.
"What do you want me to do, Captain?" Gould asked.
O'Keefe looked at her bitterly for a moment. He hated Starfleet security, busy body interfering do-gooders. He restrained himself from asking her to inspect the hull from outside. Instead he smiled. "If a particularly bad gravity wave comes along lass, you can stun it with your phaser and toss it into a brig." He turned back into the Tuesday's bridge.
Gould rolled her eyes.
"C'mon." Ashby said "You can help me."
-*-
Cavallo sat in the darkened wardroom of the Ruby Tuesday. It looked just like the living room of any small family apartment back on earth. Outside the windows hell rampaged.
He stared at the mad sherbet flowing outside of the Ruby Tuesday and sighed deeply.
"Dr. Cavallo?" Elizabeth Nelson asked from the doorway.
"What?"
"I just wanted to see if you're alright."
Cavallo snorted derisively. "I've been killed by a drunken Irishman with a sideline in child neglect and an Engineer so new he shouldn't be allowed to look at tools without adult supervision. Other than that, I'm peachy."
"That's alright." Nelson said seriously. "Your attitude is so poisonous that you wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway."
Cavallo stared at Nelson as if he'd been slapped. "Watch your mouth, *nurse*."
"Doctor, you've been complaining and abusing everyone since this mission started. Why?" Nelson challenged.
"Does it bother you in the slightest that through incompetence and negligence that we're all as good as dead?" Cavallo shot back.
"We're not dead, yet." Nelson said "I'm not giving up that easily."
"Oh, yes." Cavallo sneered "The proper Starfleet, never give up, never say die attitude. Did they issue it with your uniform or are you using one handed down by your illustrious ancestors? And look where it's gotten you."
"I am where I need to be and so are you. That little girl would have died soon without us." Nelson said.
"No!" Cavallo snarled "We didn't need to be here at all! If that sot O'Keefe had been a responsible parent, there would be no need for us to have our heads on a chopping block. Elizabeth, you could have handled the diagnosis and prescription. Hell, Anderson or Morgan could have! Why was it necessary to drag me out here in to-" he waved his hand at the window "-this?"
Elizabeth tilted her head to the side. "Why are you in Starfleet, Doctor?"
Cavallo looked at his nurse for a few seconds. Then he answered honestly. "I don't know any more."
Nelson nodded. "Was there even anything to begin with?"
Cavallo sighed again "I used to think I could make a difference out here. That to perform my job as a doctor somehow mattered out here on the frontier. I felt that I could... push back some boundaries or something."
"Haven't you?"
"It's just an endless string of disasters one right after another. Most of them are caused by idiots who, if they just thought things through, could be avoided."
"Being a Doctor is about solving problems, isn't it?" Nelson asked. "Healthy people who look both ways before crossing the street don't wind up in sick bay. Or Med-Lab, or the Infirmary, or what ever they're calling it this week. We don't see the smart or lucky ones."
"It's not just that." Cavallo said. "Starfleet itself is accident prone. There's always another emergency, always another crisis that needs coping with. I used to think space exploration was, you know, Human nature. Part of The Human Adventure and all that crap. Now, I'm not sure. Most of it seems to be looking for the next Klingon Empire, or the next Borg, or the next Kynah to bang our collective heads against. Do you realize that Starfleet provoked most of the confrontations by poking around out here? Is it a coincidence that most major powers we run into these days take one look at us and start shooting?"
"That's an interesting perspective, but I thinks it a negative one." Elizabeth said.
"It's not negative! It's realistic! Do you know how many phaser burns and knife wounds I treated on Earth? Not many, that's the truth. How many out here? I've lost count. Basic instinct tells us that if something hurts, to stop doing it. Exploring space and pissing off everyone with a star ship and a bad attitude hurts us every day, but still we don't stop.
"The Federation is composed of 150 member worlds, doctor, not all of them started shooting as soon as they saw us." Nelson pointed out.
"Maybe they should have."
"You go ahead and sulk, Doctor, if that's what you have to do. For me, I m not dead yet, and if exploring space and doing medicine out here is an illness, then I've already got it pretty badly. You go ahead and decide what you want to do, I'll be somewhere else, living." Nelson snarled. She turned on her heel and left the Wardroom.
Part of Cavallo's brain snarled right back. She couldn't talk to him that way. He'd out her on report! He'd show her!
The rest of Cavallo stayed dejected. A little petty anger wasn't enough to arouse him. Cavallo took a picture out of his medical kit. A picture of himself, his wife and his three children. What would happen to them when he didn't come back? Those kids needed him and he cherished the occasions when he could be there for them. Now they'd have a few holo-recordings and the platitudes of Starfleet about honorable deaths and the so-called Human Adventure.
"This wasn't what I wanted for you." Cavallo told the picture.
-*-
The scanners on the Rainer alerted T'Nara to the existence of an object near her. The scanners were set to scan visually to maximum sensitivity since subspace sensors were completely useless in the rift.
T'Nara dialed in the sensors and identified the object as the Ruby Tuesday. If she'd been Human, she would have smiled at the discovery. It was an unexpected stroke of like to find the ship at all, let along intact. To tell more about it she'd have to get closer.
As she approached the stricken freighter, T'Nara made note of something disturbing. If she were Human she would have grimaced. The Ruby Tuesday was caught at point where three huge gravity waves were converging. It was as if the waves were conspiring together to destroy the freighter.
T'Nara pushed her throttles to the maximum. What's she do about it when she got to the Ruby Tuesday was a question she had no answer for.
-*-
"The Impulse Reactor is overheating!" Ashby called. "We can't take much more of this!"
"Try somethin', anythin' Lad! I'm outta ideas!" O'Keefe wailed.
Ashby grimaced and almost yelled. It wasn't fair! They'd survived so far, only to be wiped out by a random convergence of waves. Actually it wasn't all that random. The Ruby Tuesday just hadn't been able escape the waves, and they systematically dragged the ship to the convergence point.
The engines were too hot. Too hot... "I'm flooding the engines!" Ashby yelled. Why not? If they were dead they didn't need any extra fuel anyway.
The Ruby Tuesday like all starships of the day used variant of liquid hydrogen called deuterium for fuel. Liquid hydrogen was a fair coolant. So Ashby sent three times the amount of fuel through the engine. The engine burned as much as it could. The rest acted to start cooling the engine. A little bit. Ashby hoped it would be enough.
Even with the impulse engine of the Ruby Tuesday maxed out and producing as much energy as it ever would, Ashby knew that surviving the impact of the divergent waves would be chancy at best.
"Impulse reactor at 105% rated power and holding!" Ashby called.
"Hold together, old thing, hold together!" O'Keefe prayed.
-*-
T'Nara knew her rendezvous with the Ruby Tuesday would a be a fluid, dynamic thing. Not like most spatial meetings where ships matched courses and then acted as if they were standing still next to each other.
T'Nara carefully estimated a course that would allow the Runabout to pass close by the stricken Freighter and allow her to start dealing with their problems without unduly jarring the ruby Tuesday.
-*-
The ship jerked and shuddered as if stuck by two thousand metric tons of pillows.
"What's that?" Ashby called.
"I don' know Laddy! We've been hit by somethin'." O'Keefe said.
Lights started lighting up on the decrepit old engineering control panel. Ashby looked at it carefully. "We're getting power from somewhere!"
O'Keefe boggled "Say again, Laddie! Are you sure!?"
"Yes! Yes, I'm sure! Hull integrity is back up over 50%! Someone's lending us energy!" Ashby yelled
"Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth lad! Let's get out of these bleedin' waves!" O'Keefe activated the Impulse drive in and drew some power from the impulse reactors. The Ruby Tuesday began to fight her way clear of the gravitational whirlpool.
-*-
Inside the Rainier, T'Nara had stopped being a pilot and was now an engineer, doing her best to keep the Rainier intact while hooked to the Ruby Tuesday by the tractor beam.
The Runabout was fighting waves now, instead of surfing them and that was even less comfortable than before.
The frame of the Runabout twisted and then stopped halted by the internal force fields of the Runabout's structural integrity field.
The Ruby Tuesday began to move, dragging the run about along.
"Finally!" T'Nara thought, but did not say aloud.
-*-
The Ruby Tuesday broke free of the grip of meshing gravity waves and turned straight for the nearest edge of the Subspace rift.
-*-
"This is the Rainier." T'Nara hailed. "What is the status of the Starfleet crew on board?"
"Aye, They're all foine Starfleet, don't get yer panties in a bunch." O'Keefe answered.
"Thanks for the Tractor beam!" Ashby called "That saved us for sure!"
"I was merely doing my duty as specified in Starfleet regulations-"
O'Keefe pressed the mute button. "She's a Vulcan isn't she?"
Ashby nodded "Uh huh."
"Oh lord and little green apples." O'Keefe sighed. He turned his microphone back on. "Lass if ye could dock yer cute little hip to the Ruby Tuesday, we could set up a much better power transfer rig. That way we'd be able to survive in this mess until yer Starfleet sends a rescue mission after us."
T'Nara thought about it briefly. "That would not be wise. The docking tunnel of our runabout is only rated for 1250 kilodynes of pressure."
O'Keefe blinked "And that's bad, is it?"
"The torsional forces of the gravity waves we have encountered are well in excess of that." T'Nara explained.
"So if ye tried t' dock with us then yer Runabout's docking tunnel would be ripped right off again, is that what yer sayin'?"
"Yes." T'Nara enunciated clearly.
O'Keefe sighed. "Then I won't be able t' invite you over fer any of me wife's corned beef and cabbage until after we're rescued."
Gould nodded "That would explain the smell when we beamed aboard."
"Hey, Now!" O'Keefe protested.
"T'Nara, how much of the Runabout's power do you have?" Ashby asked.
"Unfortunately I was only able to restore 50% main power. The Warp engines are not functional." T'Nara replied.
O'Keefe blinked and hit the mute button again. "Lad, that's not possible. That runabout should be on impulse and auxiliary power, just like us."
Ashby nodded "I know. But she's not an engineer. Don't say anything. If she knows it's impossible it may stop working."
O'Keefe shot Ashby a look. "We may make an engineer out of ye yet."
O'Keefe reopened the channel "Okay, Rainier. Please keep sending us what power ye have and we'll stand by."
"Noted." T'Nara said "Please steer course 131 mark 72. It will be easier if we don't resist the gravity waves, but rather work with them."
O'Keefe shrugged "Whatever ye say." And changed course to suit.
-*-
O'Keefe came back into the wardroom and offered Ashby a container. "Somethin' t' wet yer whistle while we're waitin'."
"No thanks." Ashby said he was working on something on his tricorder.
"How about you?" O'Keefe turned to Gould and offered her the bulb.
"Is it really wise to be drinking during this crisis?" Gould asked pointedly.
"D'ye think I could stand this without panicking if I were sober?" O'Keefe laughed. "Half way lit is the only t' face danger and adversity."
Dr. Cavallo entered the Wardroom. "Have you considered seeking treatment for your problem with Alcohol?"
"Why? I have no problems with Alcohol. I love it and it loves me. No problem." O'Keefe answered broadly.
Mari followed Cavallo in. "What happens now?"
"Now, m'dear. We wait and see if we can survive another Starfleet rescue mission." O'Keefe said.
Cavallo turned and in a surprising change of tone said "I'm sure everything will be fine." It almost sounded like he believed.
Mari wanted to believe it and so she did.
Elizabeth Nelson came in. "X'ari's asleep. She should be fine after a few days rest. Is there any coffee on board?"
"In the pantry. We have me special mix, and bulbs of instant." O'Keefe pointed.
Elizabeth ducked into the small kitchenette to grab a bulb of instant coffee.
"We might be able to get out on our own." Ashby said.
O'Keefe snickered. "Maybe you don't need anything t' drink after all. You have your delusions to keep you warm."
"Would prefer to wait here and let the subspace rift collapse on us?" Ashby asked.
"As opposed to what?" O'Keefe asked.
"I think that with the Runabout and the ruby Tuesday we may have enough energy to get over the gravitational lip at the edge of the rift." Ashby said.
"And if we don't?" O'Keefe asked.
"Uh... We might damage the ships trying." Ashby said.
"So we gamble our lives on solving the problem ourselves, or we stand pat." O'Keefe said.
"Didn't you say that this rift thing might collapse on us?" Gould asked.
"It might." Ashby said. "Eventually it will collapse. The question is, are we here when it happens?"
"We have no way t' tell when that might happen lad." O'Keefe said.
"It will be too late to change our minds when it starts to collapse.' Ashby replied.
"I'm the captain of this boat, laddie. And I say we stay. That's the end of it." O'Keefe harumped.
"No actually, it's not." Gould said.
"What do ye mean? Yer goin' to hijack ol' Mike O'Keefe's ship away from him?" O'Keefe whined.
A phaser appeared in Gould's hand. "Sit down and keep your hands where I can see them."
Elizabeth stepped into the doorway and then quickly away from O'Keefe.
"What in the hell are you doing!?" Cavallo shouted.
"Hey! Hey!" Ashby stood up quickly but stayed well away from Gould's field of fire.
O'Keefe kept his hands in the air but didn't move.
"As the senior Starfleet officer present during a crisis, the decision is yours, Doctor. Not his."
Cavallo sputtered "Wha- what!?"
Gould nodded shortly, never taking her eyes off O'Keefe. "You're in charge Doctor."
"This isn't my field!" Cavallo said "I'm not a line officer!"
"I mighta known. Starfleet, goose stepping dictators, the lot of ye."
"You were placed in command, Doctor." Ashby said. "The decision is yours."
"This isn't my sort of decision to make! Put that thing away!" Cavallo yelled.
Gould lowered her phaser, but didn't take her eyes off O'Keefe.
Elizabeth looked at the doctor carefully. "You're a doctor. You make life and death decisions all the time."
"I make medical decisions in a field I am trained in. This, this is space stuff." Cavallo flailed.
"Well you have some experts to ask, don't you?" Nelson said.
"What experts? A couple of trigger happy,, wet behind the ears ensigns and drunken sot. Some experts!" Cavallo sneered.
"We're who you have, doctor, deal with it." Gould said sharply. "Sir."
Cavallo looked at Ashby "What do you think?"
Ashby looked very uncomfortable. "I think we should make the attempt to escape. We have no way of knowing when the Rift will decide to collapse."
O'Keefe shouted. "And if we wreck this ship tryin' we won't last until a rescue mission kin get here!"
"What are the odds of the Rift collapsing?" Cavallo asked.
Ashby said promptly "I have no idea."
O'Keefe shrugged. "I dunno.""
Gould said very clearly "So it's a fifty/fifty shot, as far as we know."
"What shall we do Doctor?" Nelson asked quietly. "The patient is on the table. It's up to you."
Cavallo said "Let me think about it." He left the Wardroom.
Gould's disgust was plain on her face.
Ashby looked shaken.
O'Keefe looked mad. "Well, since ye've relieved me, Ensign, I think I'll go take a nap meself."
Ashby said "Don't get drunk. We'll need you piloting the Ruby Tuesday, if this is going to work."
O'Keefe snarled. "Oh. I'm working fer you now. I'm working fer Starfleet. Does that mean I get a nice new uniform and a phaser set on oppress fer meself?" he stomped out of the wardroom.
"Well, that went well." Ashby said.
"What ever gets my daughter out of this alive. That's what I want." Mari said.
Nelson nodded "That's what we're working on."
-*-
Cavallo stood in the darkened bedroom and looked out the port. What must it be like growing up like this? Cavallo wondered. Always in space, always on the edge of the unknown. A new planet every few weeks, a new view out the bedroom window.
Cavallo looked at his picture of his family again. "I really, really didn't want this for you." he whispered.
A fifty/fifty gamble for his whole, entire life. Each day that followed would be determined by the decision he was about to make. This wasn't too unusual. Cavallo often decided the course of peoples lives. However, this was the first time it was him on the table. This was the first time it was him at risk.
He looked over at the deeply sleeping little girl. She was his patient. She was here, too.
The Hippocratic Oath had as one its primary elements, it's prime directive - "First do no harm."
On that basis, Cavallo almost decided to wait and see what happened. Something might break right. The procedure had a fifty percent chance of saving their lives and a fifty percent chance of killing them.
Cavallo looked at his family photograph again. Staying here was letting a potentially dangerous condition continue to its natural end with no attempt whatsoever to change things.
Cavallo wanted more than anything else to go home. To take his entire family back to earth and never think of another spaceship as long as he lived.
Cavallo returned to the Wardroom. "My decision is made. We'll attempt to escape. Ashby start setting it up."
-*-
"I don't think this is the way t' go Doctor." O'Keefe said.
"Listen, You have your wife and child here, O'Keefe. Mine are waiting for me on the outside of this thing. I want to go home. I want to leave this thing behind." Cavallo said.
"Yer riskin' all our lives on this." O'Keefe said That doesn't sound like a family man t' me."
"You want to hang tight in a subspace rift and hope it doesn't collapse and squish us all. It's the same risk except for one thing." Cavallo said
"And what's that?"
"If we move the risk is in our hands. If we wait we have to accept whatever the house deals us." Cavallo said.
"Doin' somethin' just t' be doin' somethin' isn't my idea of any intelligent plan, there Doctor." O'Keefe said thoughtfully.
"Sometimes doing something just to be doing something is all we have." Cavallo said.
O'Keefe looked at Cavallo. "Is that the way they teach you t' practice medicine on Earth, then?"
"What I've learned is that we win some and we loose some, but I like it to be in my own hands either way." Cavallo said.
"Yer a bloody control freak, that what." O'Keefe grinned.
"I'm a doctor. Being a control freak comes with the territory." Cavallo sniffed.
-*-
The two ships swooped through the gravity waves and struggled for the edge of the rift.
The Ruby Tuesday actually moved very well under Impulse. She had big engines to move big cargoes. Unloaded the ship was almost, but not quite maneuverable. She could move with some conviction. She had the mass to bull her way through the gravity waves.
The Rainier, being much lighter had a tough time staying in formation. Each gravity wave had a much grater effect on her.
If T'Nara was the sort of person to admit it, she'd say that she really enjoyed the flight. Her reflexes were pushed to their limits, and her skill at flying was taxed by both flying in formation with the Ruby Tuesday, but also by keeping the powerful tractor beam on the ruby Tuesday. The energy from the Runabout was what kept the Freighter able to run her Impulse engines at such a rate. The Tractor beam had very little attractive force. It was mostly there to transmit energy.
T'Nara knew, perhaps as well as anyone, that getting the Freighter through the edge of the rift was a very uncertain proposition. She wracked her brains to come up with a method of adding leverage to the attempt.
All at once, the answer came to her, as things so often did while she was concentrating on flying. In Command School they called it "Spock's Solution" apparently in reference to Spock's experience in the Kobyashi Maru exam.
T'Nara began making preparations. "Computer, Seal off the command deck."
-*-
"Wheeee haaaaaaa!" O'Keefe shouted. He was enjoying himself too.
"You actually like this." Gould said.
"I haven't had a decent excuse t' play barn stormer in years." O'Keefe said. "This old girl has a couple of surprises up her sleeve doesn't she?"
Ashby called from the engineering deck "I'm ready down here! I'll need about five minutes warning before we hit the edge."
"We're about four minutes away now, Lad!" O'Keefe said.
"Oh Hell! Right!" Ashby said and cut the channel.
"Should we show down o give him another minute?" Cavallo asked.
"No, Doctor, momentum is all that we have goin' fer us. Ashby'll be ready." O'Keefe said.
"I just hope you're right.
-*-
The gravitational incline at the edge of the subspace rift was like trying to climb a mountainside that kept collapsing.
With a running start, the two ships plunged into the climb and made headway. Then as each wave battered them falling down into the heart of the rift, they began to bog down.
Shuddering and rattling the two ships clawed their way against unimaginable force opposing them.
The Ruby Tuesday struck a wave, turned almost completely around and when she regained her head she was almost at a complete stop.
-*-
"Computer," T'Nara said with a fine sense of timing "initiate overload."
-*-
Ashby grimaced at the readings The Ruby Tuedsay's engines and SIF fields were at the straining point, her hull about to buckle. Her impulse reactors were well into the red line and threatening to close down at any moment.
They were just a bit shy of the goal.
Then, the energy coming across the transfer beam began to increase sharply.
Ashby didn't ask any questions. He threw every bit of the new energy into the engines.
The impulse drives of the Ruby Tuesday screamed as energy well in excess of their tolerances flowed through them and into the ship's motion. The hull buckled as more force than she could bear washed across her, but the over worked force fields held on just a few moments longer.
-*-
The Ruby Tuesday drifted in blackness. Lights and life support were working but that was all. Her impulse drives were a slagged memory hanging of the back of the ship. The power system, abused too far was so much recycling fodder now.
O'Keefe stared out the viewports on the command deck. "I'll be dipped. We actually made it, didn't we?"
Cavallo was shaking and felt gray. "Yes. Yes, we made it." He chuckled a little at the thought.
"What about the runabout?" Gould asked.
O'Keefe started running a visual scan of the area. Almost no sensors were working and the Ruby Tuesday was down to emergency power anyway.
"Bloody. Will ye look at that." O'Keefe put the rear ward sensors on the larger view screen.
The Subspace rift was collapsing as if some cosmic child was sucking up the mad sherbet through a straw. It swirled and shrank and spun and shrank further until normal Space closed the wound in itself with a very weak joint. The subspace rift was gone, for now.
-*-
T'Nara piloted the Runabout command module on thrusters only. They were all that was left. They were running on emergency batteries which were running dry very, very quickly.
However, the Ruby Tuesday wasn't moving anywhere at all. T'Nara efficiently backed the module that was all that was left of the Runabout Rainier up to the Ruby Tuesday's docking port and successfully docked with the Crippled freighter.
-*-
"You're very lucky, you know that?" Nelson told T'Nara.
"Yes." T'Nara said.
"Hold still." Nelson was treating minor burns and lacerations on both Ashby and T'Nara, results of the energetic deaths of both the runabout and the Ruby Tuesday's engine room. "What if the Command Module hadn't been thrown free?"
"Such speculation is pointless." T'Nara replied. "The Module was thrown free and here I am."
Nelson rolled her eyes. "It's good to see you again, and well in any case."
"And you." T'Nara said politely.
-*-
The starship Alvin picked up the Ruby Tuesday, the Starfleet officers and the crew and took them all back to Deep Space 13. For the huge starship, it was a much shorter trip than for a runabout.
-*-
Commander Creveling looked at the PADD in front of her with distaste. She didn't like loosing any of her people for any reason, but resigning a commission and running back to Earth struck her as a less than dignified way to leave service in Starfleet.
"Are you sure Doctor?" She asked.
Cavallo looked her straight in the eye. "I have never been more sure of anything in my life. We're packed and ready to board the first available transport back home."
Creveling sighed. "If that's the way you want it Doctor." She signed the resignation, accepting it. Doctor Lance Cavallo was once again a Civilian.
-*-
Lt. Lamarr looked at Gould sternly. "O'Keefe complained that you hijacked his ship at Phaser point. Doctor Cavallo complained about a lot of things but not least was that you forced him to make a command level decision, more or less at phaser point, too. Do you have anything to add to your official report?"
Gould thought for a moment and said "Nothing to my official report, Sir."
"How about unofficially?" Lamarr added.
"Sir!, Unofficially, Doctor Cavallo is whiny and spineless and should not have been placed in command of the mission. Captain O'Keefe is a drunken stumble bum with a severe lack of moral character." Gould said staring straight at the wall.
Lamarr nodded. "Alright. I prefer to handle relations with the public and Federation citizens in a somewhat more diplomatic fashion, Ensign. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Lieutenant." Gould said.
""Good. Dismissed." Eve Lamarr said. when Gould left she read through the report again, snickering.
-*-
Parker Ashby was seeing O'Keefe, Mari and X'ari off at the transporter stage. The Ruby Tuesday was written off as a total wreck. Beggared the O'Keefe's were returning to Earth to try and arrange a fresh start.
"I'll be seeing ye' around the space ways, Lad." O'Keefe said expansively to Ashby. Ashby noted he was mostly drunk still.
"Take care of yourself, Mike." Ashby said.
"Yer too good fer Starfleet, lad. When ye realize it, come look me up and we'll work out something t'gether, you an' me."
"I'll look you up some day, Mike." Ashby said.
"I like Starfleet!" X'ari yelled. "It smells good! I want to stay! I want to be a Starfleet someday!"
O'Keefe looked at his daughter like she'd just grown three heads. "You watch yer tongue young lady!"
Mari smiled embarrasedly and stepped between them "Please tell Doctor Cavallo and Nurse Nelson thank you, Engineer Ashby."
"I will. I hope you find happiness." Ashby said
The transporter whisked the O'Keefes away.
-*-
With a fine sense of timing, Peekaboo the cat calculated the exact moment when T'Nara's alarm would go off. Then she came and sat on T'Nara's face exactly a half an hour before that.
"No." T'Nara said sleepily to Peekaboo,
Peekaboo squeezed her eyes at T'Nara and seemed to think "Oh, yes."
Getting up and getting ready for the day was a more leisurely procedure with Peekaboo's advanced wake up call. Apparently Peekaboo was convinced that whatever T'Nara was eating was much better than her own food and begged piteously.
"Vulcans are not ruled by emotion." T'Nara thought to herself sternly. Eventually she let Peekaboo have a bit of Vulcan senot, a sort of omelet but made with a sort of vegetable paste, instead of eggs. Peekaboo sniffed the bite of senot, licked it and gave it a courtesy chew but quickly abandoned it.
"Wanting a thing is sometimes more pleasant than having a thing." T'Nara thought to herself.
After wards T'Nara got out and put on a fresh new uniform, which Peekaboo decided needed a good rubbing on the ankles and fresh dose of cat hair. Eventually T'Nara got out of her quarters with her dignity mostly intact.
-*-
T'Nara walked into the ready room for the hangar bay to find a set of engineering tools on one of the desks and Lt. Chou waiting for her. He had a set of tools on a belt of his own.
"Good morning, Lt. Chou." T'Nara said.
"Ni Hau, Ensign. Please pick up your tools." Chou said, with an expression somewhat reminiscent of a house cat on his face.
"Yes, Sir." T'Nara picked up the tools and began to arrange them on her person.
"You're solution to escaping a sub space rift was novel." Chou said.
"It was a logical sacrifice. The Rainier for the safety of the civilians and the rest of the crew." T'Nara said.
"Yes. Quite logical. Come with me." Chou stood and left the ready room.
T'Nara followed Chou to a service bay a few steps away from the ready room. In the service bay was the battered command module from the Runabout Rainier.
"Now we reach another logical consequence of your decision." Chou said. "we will repair the runabout."
T'Nara blinked. "Correct me if I am wrong, Sir, but will this not entail building most of a runabout to replace the destroyed sections?"
Chou squeezed his eyes at T'Nara. "I believe it will Ensign."
T'Nara was particularly struck by Chou's resemblance to a house cat. "Yes, Sir." She stepped forward to get to work.
-End-
Disclaimer: Paramount owns all things Trek. I claim original characters and situations in this story for me.