Once inside and certain only his trusted staff was there, she announced, “I don’t see a way to avoid most of the debris field. I recommend that you prepare an evacuation immediately. I’ve already used up more than two hours trying to find a way to avoid the field. I don’t know how long it would take to get some other transports, but I suggest you give the order to get most of the crew into the shuttles and back down to the surface as soon as possible.”
The room remained quiet for a few beats too long. Then the commander spoke.
“I see. So what you’re saying is that impact of some sort is inevitable? Even with the system back online?”
“I’m sad to say, yes, that’s correct. We’ve drifted too far into the field, and our engine capacity by your own engineer’s calculation is down to eighty percent at best. We must prepare for the worst. Even if we had someone go out there and physically remove the debris from that engine, we still wouldn’t have the thrust capacity to change course in time. I’m sorry, but that is my best recommendation.”
The commander squared his shoulders and stood. “All right people, you heard her. Get everyone ready to evacuate the station.”
The words had no sooner left his mouth than a loud crash sounded, and the station shook from a collision impact. As in so many of the fictionalized accounts of space collisions she’d watched in old movies growing up, there were blaring alarms and flashing warning lights. If she didn’t know she was in mission control with the best people to handle a crisis, she might have panicked. Instead, she affected a steely resolve and went about assessing the damage and becoming part of the solution to get people to safety.
Her next thought was how Phee was doing. She could only imagine the chaos she must be enduring in the medical bay. As she ran a quick scan of systems, her worst fears seemed to be playing out today. The air pressure and oxygen levels were compromised. They were losing oxygen more rapidly than they’d be able to evacuate.
As she scanned and re-ran the data, she thought about how much she wanted to hate Brantley right now for putting everyone into this predicament, but she knew that was a cop-out. Now wasn’t the time to be a temperamental shrew. It was her place to work and find solutions. Blaming was a waste of time and energy that could be better spent getting things done.
“Commander, I need you to get some help from the surface. Is there a way to send a Mayday to them? I don’t think the station will be able to sustain air quality for the two plus hours we need. If everything remains constant, the air will be gone in an hour and forty-nine minutes. We need to get all non-essential personnel out of here now.”
The commander gave her a look of disbelief and then quickly went into action. “Thank you, Kyra. Looks like you’re the commander today. I’m going down to the engine rooms to coordinate the evacuation. Please keep me apprised of the systems’ situation every ten minutes. I can be reached on the intra-communicator on this frequency.” He pointed at a frequency she hadn’t known was available before then.
With a quick nod to confirm that she understood what was to be done, he was off.
Within the next few minutes, the station-wide announcement system began to broadcast the mandatory evacuation. Hearing the announcement brought chills to Kyra’s body. This was not a drill. She was in the heart of a potentially life-or-death situation. Looking at the disarray of many of the station’s systems, she dug in deeper to unravel as much of the chaos as possible.
A buzzing notification let her know the filtration system was failing. If the filters couldn’t keep up, then the air quality would deteriorate even faster, poisoning everyone with gases mixed in deadly proportions. This was nuts. She could only imagine what the rest of the ship must look like. Up here in mission control it was starting to unravel. People were running back and forth, and the tension in their voices belied their calm appearance. Seeing these strong-willed people start to fray around the edges gave away the rawness of the situation. Any minute now, someone would lose his cool and snap.
Buzz, buzz, buzz…
The sound startled her, but she picked up the intra-communicator next to her station. Dirk’s agitated voice filled her ears.
“Kyra! What the hell is going on? I came in to help Brantley. He’s in a corner crying and losing it, and I can’t access any of the systems. Plus, someone just reported a fire in one of the loading galleys next to an engine that seems to have stopped working.”
“Dirk, slow down. Did you say there’s a fire next to one of the engine rooms?”
“Yes but I can’t get control of the system to run a check.”
“Don’t worry about that. Mission control overrode it. I have control of all the systems up here in the control room now. I’ll take a look to see if I can locate the fire and activate the extinguishers.”
She scanned the area for elevations in temperature, and sure enough, there was a growing fire in the room next to the inoperable engine.
“Looks like I found it. I’ve turned on the overhead extinguishers. I’ll see if we can dispatch someone down there to help with putting the fire out, to make sure it’s done.”
“Hey Kyra, what happened? Why are you up there, and why did you leave? Brantley is a mess. I can’t get him to talk or even move from that corner. It’s like he’s snapped.”
“Dirk, it’s a story too long to talk about at the moment. And I didn’t leave, he tried to fire me. Once we get everyone to safety, we’ll have to catch up, and I’ll be happy to fill you in. Let’s just say Brantley is feeling the heat of not knowing how to do his job. But you should leave and find your wife. Prepare for evacuation and head to your nearest designated area to board a shuttle. It’s not looking good, and this is the real thing, not a drill. You understand? You need to leave now. Let Brantley know to do the same. Find your wife and get out to your shuttle.”
“All right, thanks for the heads-up. Whatever is happening up there, be careful and stay safe. If I don’t get to see you before we make it back to the surface, know that I’ve always admired you and the work you do.”
With that, they severed the intra-communicator connection. It was time to try to save as many lives as possible. Another explosion shook the station. Kyra watched in horror as many of the once calm engineers and flight crew raced to the observation window and stared in horror. She didn’t have time to do the same—she only listened for snatches of what they saw.
They had just collided with the piece of debris they’d feared most. There was a gaping hole in the station’s hull; casualties were reported, and uninjured crew members were attempting to put out raging fires.
This was not good on so many levels. Kyra worked to restore systems and watched with disbelief as the fires devoured precious oxygen. At this rate, they had about thirty minutes of air left. The evacuations had only started, and she needed a status report to see how many shuttles were still viable.
Remembering to report updates to the commander, she picked up the intra-communicator. She tried to ignore her shaking hands as she activated his frequency. He immediately came on the line.
“Commander…Mark. It looks like the fires in the hull are depleting our air supply at an alarming rate.”
“How fast?”
“We may have thirty minutes at most before the air is unbreathable. Evacuation efforts need to speed up if at all possible.”
She waited for him to respond with her next directive, but his silence made her falter for a moment. Then her will to survive kicked in and she said, “Mark, move everyone to the shuttles and forget about the fire. No use trying to fight it when we’re all leaving anyway. Stuff as many people as possible in each shuttle. Let your people know it’s okay to start leaving mission control. I’ll stay to monitor systems and leave on the last shuttle.”
Silence. Then she heard him come back on the line, “Kyra you are very brave. I never thought we’d be in this situation. Times like this really let people know what they’re made of. You, my dear, have a warrior’s heart. I want you to leave with th
e rest of the crew. I’m down in the area by the fire. As soon as we can contain it enough to salvage some of the shuttles and get crew aboard them, I’ll give the all clear for everyone to start boarding. Be ready to leave in no less than twelve minutes from this moment. Do you understand me? That is an order. Don’t try to hang around and be a hero. You have to survive and make it off this station.”
At that moment another piece of debris crashed into the station, causing the lights in mission control to go out.
“Kyra, are you all right? What happened? It sounded like something hit close to mission control.”
“Yes we’re all right. I think another piece of debris hit us. The lights are out but…yes, the auxiliary generator lights just popped on.” Then the thought hit her—auxiliary power. “Hey Mark, do you think you could have most of the fire controlled in ten minutes?”
“I’m not sure…why?”
“Because I have an idea. If you can contain the fire to that one area, we can activate the emergency doors to that engine room to shut it off from the others. We’d use a boost from the auxiliary power to close it off. Then I could couple the regular power with auxiliary to clean the air down there, hopefully enough to give us another half hour. It’s a long shot, but that might give the surface time to send help.”
“Not to sound like a pessimist, but I doubt it. The soonest they can get here is about four hours. The Mayday went out only a little over an hour ago, when you asked me to send it. No, Kyra, we have to save ourselves on this go round.”
“Okay. I’m not giving up on ideas to buy us more time. Sir, how many shuttles are located in that engine area?”
She listened as he took a count, asked someone with him for confirmation and then said, “There are normally three shuttles per engine room for a total of thirty shuttles. Each one can hold forty people. The station is at full capacity with just under 1,200 people. It looks like we might be able to salvage one or two of these in the fire-damaged area. Then we’d need to make room for 40 to 80 people on the other shuttles. Only one shuttle is currently compromised. We may be able to absorb that on the other shuttles.”
She didn’t like the odds of the other two shuttles in that area working. She wanted to close it off completely. Another quick check and her suspicions were confirmed. The area’s air composition was changing to include hydrogen. That was a dangerous recipe for an explosive situation. Could this day get any suckier?
“Mark, it looks like we need to forget about those shuttles. The air is filling with hydrogen, becoming poisonous and dangerous. There could be more explosions in that area at any time. Please get your people out of there now. I’m going to attempt to activate the emergency door shutdown.”
“You can’t without my override. There’s no time. I’ll fill the shuttles that work in this bay first and then move on. I have to use every available seat to get everyone out of here. It’s time for you to come down and leave, as well. I’ll see you when you get here.”
The communication went dead. The area was volatile and could cause the entire station to explode, but she had to obey her commander. She couldn’t pull a mutiny. He didn’t need that added pressure. What good would it do in the long run? They had minutes to move more than thousand people off this station. She made her own executive decision to keep her misgivings to herself and follow orders.
“Sir, tell me what you want to do and we’ll make it happen up here,” was the response she gave instead.
“Start sending people to this engine room. That includes you leaving the area to come down to the shuttles, as well. We’ll fill up as many shuttles as we can and send them out as soon as possible. You can try to override and shut down the doors to cut off any more oxygen to the fires from the control panels down here. It looks like we’ll have them well enough under control for people to come into the area. And Kyra, if I make it out of this, I’m going to do two things.”
She wanted to help him keep his spirits up, so she encouraged him. “Oh yeah, what’s that sir?”
“I’m going to beat the shit out of Brantley if I ever see him again, and I’m going to have a medal of honor awarded to you for your bravery and leadership. You, Kyra, are a natural leader, and it’s been a pleasure to work with you, even if it’s been under extreme duress and for this brief time.”
She was humbled and floored at his words; all she could manage to get out was, “Thank you, sir, and the same goes for you. I’m honored to have this opportunity to work with you.” She looked around at the panic in the room and said, “Time is wasting. I have to get your crew out of here. I’ll contact you in another ten minutes.”
4
Tordin’s starship fleet broke the edge of the galaxy in time to see the first of what would be three explosions to hit the floating craft. How had they managed to get so far into a debris belt?
Tordin readied his ship to help the casualties get back to the surface of their planet. His warriors would attempt to be as covert as possible, not revealing their presence in accordance with the mandates of the Intergalactic Alliance, or the IGA for short.
As they moved at warp speed to reach the ailing craft, he noticed no other vessels were present to help them. He instructed Malm to remain cloaked as a precaution.
When his ship was within ten leagues of the craft, another explosion rocked the Terrain vessel, causing its keel and lower hull to ignite with flames. This was serious. He and his crew watched as tiny ships resembling pods started to depart the craft. He waited. Maybe they wouldn’t have to intervene after all. The Terrain beings might be able to survive on their own without him having to risk discovery or intercede.
Still, the floating craft tugged at him, and he observed it with intense interest. Something about it or within it drew his attention. The pull was undeniable.
His men counted the pods as they scrambled away from what looked like a floating space colony. When the pod count grew to twenty-eight, the largest explosion yet ripped through the side of the craft from which the pods were departing. They all watched as the craft began to tilt as if crippled.
Tordin’s breathing stopped for a moment, and he hoped he’d not just witnessed death on board the craft. If he was going to help, it had to be now. No one else was there to lend support. If any Terrains were still on board attempting to leave, his warriors could provide the needed air and containment of the raging, life-devouring flames tearing through the station long enough to help them.
He contacted the command bridge to give his orders.
“Malm, do a life scan of the craft to see if any sentient life remains on board,” he instructed his second after the stream of fleeing ships came to a halt.
He watched as the angry blaze devoured parts of the craft. It was a hungry beast, eating up the life-sustaining component of air that allowed all humanoids to breathe and live. If it continued, no living being would be able to survive it for long. He hoped all had managed to depart before that vicious explosion happened. The blaze continued to grow and roar its anger in the darkness of the void.
After a brief moment, Malm came on the line to report. “Our scans reveal at least ten to twenty living beings still on the craft. We are awaiting your orders, Sire.”
Tordin remained calm, allowing his training and heritage to come forward and asked, “Is there anyway to determine if any of these lives are female or offspring?”
“Not at this time, Sire. We could scan for the weaker life-forces on board, but that is not a sound determinate for finding females or young on the craft. We’re still too far away for that level of detail.”
“Thank you. Please give me a moment,” Tordin said. He closed the link and started to pace the expanse of his private situation room.
He had to think. Too much was going on. He was already on a probable rescue mission of the inhabitants of an entire planet on his father’s orders. Now he was faced with this situation before they’d made even the smallest advance on the journey.
He looked out his observation pa
nel at the leaning vessel. The station floated limply like a wounded but gentle beast. As he turned away to plan his next command and actions, another gentle pull made him stop and turn back around. There was something calling him to that craft. The magnetic connection was subtle but sure. Some force connected him to it. It called to him and wafted across his beating life core, caressing it.
Tordin shook his head to clear the seductive lure of that feeling. He was a warrior lord of reason, wisdom, strategy and logic. He had to focus and make a decision now. Back to the facts.
The primary directive of any rescue was to help females and offspring first. If any were displaced without kindred or home, they would be offered safe shelter for the rest of their lives under the protection of the Emperor—his father—and brought to his home planet of Olodia to live out their remaining days. This was if they were under the governance of the Intergalactic Alliance. Would this apply to any on this craft? He doubted it.
What he was fully prepared to do, however, was get them to safety. But by doing this, would he place his father in an impossible predicament? Tordin never wanted to bring dishonor to his father. He understood the reason for the original order the Emperor gave him. Going to Nenndi and restoring peace would keep his brother from harming too many beings to count. But this situation with the Terrain’s craft was a matter of life and death, as well.
As the Emperor of their galaxy and a powerful member of the IGA, his father had to play by the mandates and lead by example. A decision as big as who would be the next to govern after him had to be presented with proof of its wisdom to the exacting requirements of the ever watchful IGA. Tordin had agreed to this mission to go after his brother for his father’s benefit; it was more important to play nice with the IGA than to do what he wanted.
To stop and help the Terrain in what now looked to be a major rescue effort might open up a whole new realm of issues. There were still so many more reasons to leave this small faction of Terrains to their own devices. One of the biggest being the most obvious—Terrains didn’t know other humanoid species existed. If he helped them with the kind of support he clearly saw they needed and if the Earth planet found out about it, he might put his fleet and father at risk.
Rescued By Tordin: Olodian Alien Warrior Romance Page 4
