NRPG: Day 12 (USS Boudicca - Deck 14, Section 10 - Head Nurse Beatrix Mason and Nurse Carl Masterson - 1828) (USS Boudicca - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Lorimar - 1938) (Escape Pod Omega Two - ACEO Ensign Lorimar - 1950) (Starbase Valhalla - Deck 54, Subsection 14 - aCO Commander Archibald Stakes - 20.09) (Starbase Valhalla - Deck 52, Subsection 14 - AOPS, Lt. Tollian Yalix- 2012) (Starbase Valhalla - Deck 9- Subsection 22- SEE - Lt. Matthew McLaren- 2015) (Starbase Valhalla - Deck 52, Subsection 14 - AOPS, Lt. Tollian Yalix- 2020) (Starbase Valhalla - Deck 9- Subsection 22 - SEE - Lt. Matthew McLaren- 2021) (Starbase Valhalla - Deck 54, Subsection 14 - AOPS, Lt. Tollian Yalix- 2025) (Starbase Valhalla - Deck 54, Subsection 14 - aCO Commander Archibald Stakes - 2026) (Starbase Valhalla - Deck 54, Subsection 14 - AOPS, Lt. Tollian Yalix- 2028) (Starbase Valhalla - Subsection 14, Temporary Command Center - aCO Commander Archibald Stakes - 2039) (Starbase Valhalla - Subsection 14, Temporary Command Center - CMO - Commander Dinnica Roil - 2048) (Starbase Valhalla - Deck 54, Subsection 14 - AOPS, Lt. Tollian Yalix- 2100) (Starbase Valhalla - Subsection 14 - Temporary Command Center - aCO Commander Archibald Stakes - 2128) RPG: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mission: The Fires of Heaven, Day 12 Stardate: 2407.07.09 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (USS Boudicca - Deck 14, Section 10 - Head Nurse Beatrix Mason and Nurse Carl Masterson - 1828) Beatrix puffed slightly, finding it hard to keep up with Carl's long strides as he hastened from the turbolift towards the point where they could see two figures, one prone on the floor and the other stooped over it. She was running, but Carl was just walking fast. Panting audibly and red in the face as they reached the two officers, Beatrix didn't bother trying to speak, she saved her breath for working on the patient. Opening her medkit she ran her tricorder over Johnson, took a note of the readings. She looked up at Lorimar when she felt she had breath enough for speaking. "You fixed your air pipe in here?" she asked. "If so, you probably saved his life." Not waiting for a reply, she selected several hyposprays and applied them in turn to Donald's neck. Then she quickly switched Lorimar's air supply attached to Johnson for an independent one, allowing them to move the Chief of Ops safely. "There," she said, "that should stabilise him long enough to get him back to the auxiliary Sickbay where Dr Gates or Dr Jahlen will be able to do more for him. But I think he owes you his life, young man." By now Carl had the anti-grav stretcher out from under his arm and set up ready to take Johnson's body. The big nurse stooped down and picked Johnson up as effortlessly as if he was a baby, then deposited him on the stretcher. Beatrix fastened the straps firmly so that Johnson would not slide off, even if the ship rocked. "Right, we'll take him from here." She gave Lorimar a nod of approval, high praise indeed from Beatrix Mason, the followed Carl as he carefully steered the stretcher back down the corridor towards the turbolift. (reply none needed) (Posted by Liz) (USS Boudicca - Main Engineering - ACEO Ensign Lorimar - 1938) ~This fine lassie cannae hold together much longer!!~ Bob Lorimar was not prescient; but he was a practical man. The damage reports, and more importantly the actual damage was piling on faster than four shiploads of engineers could fix. The Boudicca's engineering staff, Bob knew, was among the best there was. The CEO had left him in charge after she had taken personal command of a damage control team, running from one desperate emergency to another yet more desperate one. Lieutenant al-Sharif had been keeping him posted as best she could. He suddenly realized he had not in fact heard from her for several minutes. He was concerned... no, worried for her safety along with the team she was leading. His thoughts had no more time to develop as the battered ship lurched again. For only the second time in hours, he lost his footing and fell forward against a console, smashing his head hard. His world went black. "Bob? Bob? Are you alright?" ~A voice. Do I know that voice? Woman... sounds familiar. I know I know....~ Sensation began to return, slowly. ~Hands. On my arm? Pulling on me. Face. Wet. Sticky. Why is my face sticky? Why can't I see??~ "Bob, can you hear me?" ~That voice... I know that voice. She sounds worried? Why? I know! Enright. Stacey Enright!~ His eyelids fluttered open. Sensation returned then, mostly. ~Pain. Dizzy. What???~ He realized he was lying on the deck. A hand gently wiped the sticky... ~Blood?? Mine??~ from his eyes. He focused with some difficulty. The hand was connected to an arm. The arm was connected to a body, the body had a head, and face, and blond hair. ~Enright, ah was right!~ 'Wha' happened?" he asked, his voice a bit more slurred than usual. "Shh. Lie still. You fell and hit your head. You lost conciousness." He tried to comply as best as his still muddled thoughts would allow. He could feel her working on his forehead. Tying a crude bandage around his head. At least he could see now. The sticky, he realized, was blood flowing from his head. It had stopped, Enright must have done that, he realized. His head began to clear. A headache, and a bad one replaced the previous lack of sensation. "How long--" She anticipated his question. "Five, maybe six minutes Bob. But thats not the worst of it. The Captain ordered 'Abandon Ship'" "WHAT?" His head felt like it would split open. He winced, and continued much more quietly. "Say again lassie?" "Abandon ship order... couple minutes ago. We need to get you moving. Right now." He felt hands under his arms, realized someone else was there with them. He slowly turned his head as he stood up from the deck. Ensign J'Nare. "Thanks ye two. Did ye start the autoshutdown sequences?" Enright smiled gently at him. "Done, done, and done Bob... errrm I mean sir." "Right lassie, ah should hae guessed. Where's the CEO?" "We are the last three engineers aboard, so far as we know. Ensign J'Nare checked the engine spaces along with Chief Greene. Seems we are the last on the lower decks sir." "Enough with the sir stuff lassie... ye saved mah life, and Bob is just fine in any case." He glanced around, and the chamber was indeed empty. And quite lifeless. The warp core lay dark and lifeless, what little instrumentation left undamaged was dark. The only light came from emergency battery supplied escape lighting, dimmer even than battle illumination. The ship lay quiet as well. No equipment noises, ventilation hums... nothing. She was a dead hulk. Time to leave indeed. "Right. We've done all we could. More than anyone expected. We've done oor jobs. Time tae go." ~But we'll be back. If not the Boudicca, then another ship. Starfleet will survive. And so will we!~ (Escape Pod Omega Two - ACEO Ensign Lorimar - 1950) The three engineers had happened upon two more wounded crewmembers enroute to the escape pod. Fortunately both were hurt but ambulatory. They found a security guard, PO Marrish at the airlock. Together the six launched toward Valhalla as ordered. The tableau beyond the escape pods viewports was awe inspiring. For the first time, Bob got an actual look at the battle raging around them. ~Why are we not... being blown to bits?~ he wondered silently. Divine Providence? Maybe. Certainly. Along with the bravery of thier allies. He saw several evidently friendly vessels bobbing and weaving with amazing grace. Surely they were providing cover for the escape pods... it was the only logical answer. ~Bless you... all of you, whomever you are...~ He was thrown violently against the inner hull and his head started bleeding again. He turned to see Enright wrestling with the pods controls. "Auto nav is out! There was an explosion close aboard, might have been another escape pod! We've lost RCS control! I can't slow us down! Everyone hang on, we're going to hit!" Sounds of screeching and crunching metal became a deafening symphony inside the pod, as its occupants were thrashed about like toys. The lights dimmed, went out, blinked on and then off again. Another jarring impact, tossing the occupants yet again. The pod shuddered to a stop. The lights flickered on again, and stayed on, albeit dimmer than they should have been. Lorimar was pinned under a console but found his voice. "Report!" Enright shook her head to clear it. She had been strapped in to the control station, but still she'd taken a violent shaking. "We are down... or rather in. We made the breach sir, I don't know how. What's left of our sensors show we are wedged into a bulkhead *inside* the station. We are a bit removed from the dropships, maybe 150 meters. Hatch sensors showing vacuum external. I'd say we are intact, but stuck. Not getting out without pressure suits, and that will be tricky at best...." Lorimar ground his teeth together. He had tried twice to move, and had been unable to put any weight on his leg. Make that legs, plural. He began to perspire, and felt a strong wave of dizziness wash over him. He looked down and saw a dark stain spreading slowly on one leg of his uniform. Only then did he notice his other leg, the right one, was bent at a peculiar angle just above his boot. ~Bloody perfect! What else can I do wrong today? Cannae even escape a bleedin' escape pod...~ He looked around and tried to assess thier situation. Not good. Alive, but not good. He swore, not quietly either. He wiped the perspiration from his eyes. It was mixed with a trickle of blood now. He tried to smile at Enright, almost succeeding. "Sorry lassie, pardon mah salty tongue. Ah'm a wee bit tired, please forgie me." He paused a moment to collect his thoughts. It was not easy even though shock was dulling the pain. He tapped his commbadge. "Ensign Lorimar to Commander Stakes. Reporting 6 survivors. We are trapped in an escape pod on Valhalla. We have 4 wounded. Pod is stable and intact, but we have vacuum outside the hatch. We cannot depressurize the pod. Injuries prevent us from putting on pressure suits. Transmitting our coordinates now. Request assistance when possible. We can wait sir, but ah'm afraid we are out of the fight for now sir." (Reply Stakes, Any) (Posted by Russ) (Starbase Valhalla- Deck 54, Subsection 14 - aCO Commander Archibald Stakes - 20.09) =/\= Ensign Lorimar to Commander Stakes. Reporting 6 survivors. We are trapped in an escape pod on Valhalla. We have 4 wounded. Pod is stable and intact, but we have vacuum outside the hatch. We cannot depressurize the pod. Injuries prevent us from putting on pressure suits. Transmitting our coordinates now. Request assistance when possible. We can wait sir, but ah'm afraid we are out of the fight for now sir. =/\= Archibald nearly smiled. "Welcome to Valhalla, Ensign. I'm glad that you could make it. However, I am afraid that we are a little tied up here at the moment. We have managed to gather a number of our crew and are working on the defenses of our current position. Do you have any idea where you might actually have landed? We are sending out scout parties to reconnoit the area and it would help to know in what general direction they need to search. But as soon as we are able we will find you, Ensign. Until then, please give an update every ten minutes or sooner if required. (Reply Robert iyw, any) (Starbase Valhalla- Deck 52, Subsection 14- AOPS, Lt. Tollian Yalix- 2012) =^=Good news, Lieutenant. Unfortunately we are a bit understaffed at the moment. I'll probably be able to spare you ten men to help you get here, but that is about it. But I'll spare you one of my two doctors. Although it pains me to say this, forget about the supplies, the men are our first priority. Carry as many as you can once my group has arrived and the doctor had a look at them. If necessary we will go back as many times as we need, but we will not leave anyone behind. If you have any spare capacity on the last run, take the weapons first. We have struck gold with finding an infirmary up here with a decent amount of supplies, but not much working equipment. And we have some food lockers in the back. It won't be a great meal, but enough to last us for a while. Good luck. Any questions, Lieutenant?=^= Tollian surveyed the storage room. ~Such a waste of perfectly good supplies.~ he sighed inwardly. "No sir, no questions at all. I acknowledge and understand my orders. Yalix out." Tollian turned and exited the storage room and waved down Ensign Forester. Forester came at a trot. "Yes Lieutenant?" "Pass the word to our perimeter. We're expecting a 10-man relief squad along with a doctor for the wounded. Once the critical are tended to we will be displacing position in small groups to rally at Captain Stakes location on deck 54, Section 14. Once you've told them, you are to assist in preparing the more ambulatory personnel into teams to be prepared to carry the more seriously wounded." "Yes sir." Tollian watched Forester as he strode off purposefully. He understood well enough that it was better to have a purpose than to be sitting waiting for something to happen. Tollian's commbadge chimed again and it was Stakes advising him that Lieutenant McLaren would be contacting him soon for information that would help them transport the more seriously wounded personnel to the infirmary. Yalix acknowledged the change in plans and waited for Matthew to contact him. Rather than change his orders to his personnel, he wanted to be certain that the ex-CEO could indeed deliver before informing his personnel of anything that might affect their morale. (reply none) (posted by Daniel Greene) (Starbase Valhalla- Deck 9- Subsection 22- SEE- Lt. Matthew McLaren- 2015) =^=You are in the primary power relay room,=^= Stakes parroted, but Matthew knew that the captain was already thinking about something. =^= Hang on, there should be a computer control node there, a square box, little and grey. There is always a control node in a power relay room. Find it. It may not affect any of the systems around us as it is too far away, but it should work on the emergency teleport system. Once you find it, contact mister Yalix via the comm. badge. He has plenty of wounded people to transport. I doubt you will be able to transport more than five or six groups. By that time they will have realized what is going on and close down your section. So turn off the internal sensor grid in your area and make yourself scarce after five goes. Work with mister Yalix to get the worst cases out first. But no more than five transports then you get out of there and hide. And that is an order, Lieutenant.=^= Matthew frowned. ~I don't believe he honestly thought I didn't know about the control node.~ he thought to himself. "Understood sir. You can count on me. McLaren out." he replied. He closed the channel. Matthew walked the twelve steps to the control node. He'd seen many of these before, after all he had once been the Chief Engineer of Geneva Station. Of everyone on the Boudiccia, he knew station architecture probably the best of them all. The node access panel was easy. A simple lever and plenty of force snapped the closures and allowed Matthew access to the terminal and display very easily. He pulled up the transporter protocols and accessed the lesser secured emergency transporter functions. With fifteen 10-man transporters on the station, Matthew was fairly confident that he could gain control of at least one of them. He was very pleased to find that he could actually gain control of all fifteen of them. Smiling he tapped his commbadge. "McLaren to Yalix" =^= Yalix here, go ahead Lieutenant.=^= "I was advised to contact you to coordinate the transfer of wounded personnel from your area. I have access to fifteen 10-man emergency transporters at this time, but I need some direction." Matthew stated. =^=You can attune the transporters to the Boudicca's comm. channel. We are located on deck 52, subsection 19, I have 44 personnel not including myself. =^= =^=There was a pause. That will only take five transporters. I have a suggestion how we can use the other ones...=^= (reply none) (posted by Daniel Greene) (Starbase Valhalla- Deck 52, Subsection 14- AOPS, Lt. Tollian Yalix- 2020) It had taken nearly ten minutes to find out if there were pattern enhancers amongst the supplies. Tollian was pleased that there were. He had grouped his personnel together, marked the critical supplies for transport using the enhancers and given Matthew McLaren the Green light to commence transport. He knew that in one moment, all the personnel under his immediate jurisdiction and a sizeable chunk of the supplies that he'd found (including two fully functional field mobile antigravity biobeds) would soon be rallied at Captain Stakes location. He just hoped that there wasn't any chance that they'd be interrupted, or worse- fired upon by their own personnel. He felt the familiar tingle of the transporters as Matthew activated all fifteen of the emergency transporters simultaneously. (Starbase Valhalla- Deck 9- Subsection 22- SEE- Lt. Matthew McLaren- 2021) Matthew initiated the transport and watched as the life signs and supplies disappeared from deck 52 and reappeared on deck 54. He smiled. Then a thought grabbed him. Stakes had told him that he could make 5 transports. So far he had accomplished his goal in one, which meant technically, he had four more he could pull off before he had to follow orders and change positions. He smiled broader. He disabled the internal sensors for his section and started getting sensor locks on members of the defending forces. Using the broadest beams he could he started snatching them up and dropping them in random locations (although careful to avoid friendly positions or troops) as far away from where they had been as possible. A marine Squad found themselves inside a sealed airlock, a group of security officers in a series of private quarters well away from the fighting, and so on until he had expended his remaining four transports. He overloaded the transporter controls for the entire station, then took all the internal sensors off line, but overloading the biofilter arrays. Now the enemy would be forced to use tricorders. There was a humming that suddenly caught his attention and he watched as the doors to the compartment began to glow bright red. Someone was cutting their way into the room. Matthew grabbed his second hand phaser, set it to overload and stuffed it into the computer control node. He then made haste across the room and scrambled back into the same duct that had brought him to this compartment to begin with. When the system was destroyed it'd be more difficult for them to figure out what he had done before they arrived. As he was crawling through the small access tunnel he could hear the doors hiss open followed a few moments later by the dull whine and discharge of the overloaded phaser. Smiling triumphantly, he turned a corner and crawled onward. Now he had to find a place to hide. (reply none) (posted by Daniel Greene) (Starbase Valhalla- Deck 54, Subsection 14- AOPS, Lt. Tollian Yalix- 2025) Tollian rematerialized in what McLaren had described over the commbadge as an empty compartment adjacent to Captain Stakes position. The other members of his group were here as were the supplies. "Forester!" Yalix called and immediately the ensign was by his side. "Sir?" "You are to assume command here until I return. I will endeavor to make contact with Captain Stakes and let him know where we are. Set up a perimeter." he ordered. "Yes, sir." Tollian nodded and moved to the door. Drawing one of the prepared phaser rifles from the supplies that Matthew had transported along with them, he opened the doors to see what lay beyond. It was an empty corridor. And Tollian had no real idea in which of the possible directions Stakes and his impromptu command post lay. So, rather than waffle about a decision, he simply chose to go right. He chose correctly. It wasn't long before he ran into one of the Boudicca's checkpoints. The security personnel took no chances. They disarmed him and marched him at weapons point to Captain Stakes' position. "Excuse me Captain," one of the security women said. "We captured this Lieutenant. He claims to be the AOPS for the Boudicca. Said his name is Yalix." (reply Stakes) (posted by Daniel Greene) (Starbase Valhalla- Deck 54, Subsection 14 - aCO Commander Archibald Stakes - 2026) Archibald sat in the small cargo room, in the middle of the 'command centre' trying to keep track of the crew and their whereabouts. The door was stuck in the open position and he worked in the light coming through the doorway And even if the room was small, dark and cramped, it gave Archibald the ability to work in peace, or relative peace. He heard a knock and looked up at the doorway where one of their security officers came to attention "Excuse me Captain, we captured this Lieutenant. He claims to be the AOPS for the Boudicca. Said his name is Yalix." Archibald got up, walked out and nodded to the two. "That is indeed he," he said as he extended his hand. "Lieutenant, I was expecting you. Where are the others?" As Yalix explained the situation, Archibald nodded and turned to the security officer. "Crewman, take him to mister Haverstaad, to assist with escorting the wounded. Mister Yalix, once you have retrieved them, our infirmary is in the back. The room next to it has some dried food and tea. Cold tea, I am afraid. the only large replicator that we found is slightly damaged but I have an engineer looking into it. But take a break and then assign your able men to duty. We need foremost defenders and scouting party members." (Reply Tollian, iyw) (Starbase Valhalla- Deck 54, Subsection 14- AOPS, Lt. Tollian Yalix- 2028) Tollian waited as patiently as he could. time was wasting and he was such a stickler about time. After a moment Captain Stakes exited the small command room and spoke. "That is indeed he," he said as he extended his hand. Tollian took the offered hand and shook it. "Lieutenant, I was expecting you. Where are the others?" the captain asked him "About 40 meters along the left-hand corridor from where this check point was located, sir. Mister McLaren got us pretty close." "Crewman, take him to Mister Haverstaad, to assist with escorting the wounded. Mister Yalix, once you have retrieved them, our infirmary is in the back. The room next to it has some dried food and tea. Cold tea, I am afraid. the only large replicator that we found is slightly damaged but I have an engineer looking into it. But take a break and then assign your able men to duty. We need foremost defenders and scouting party members." "I understand sir. For your edification captain, he also transported along with us all the weapons a couple of mobile replicators, medical supplies and two mobile biobeds." (Starbase Valhalla - Subsection 14, Temporary Command Center - aCO Commander Archibald Stakes - 2039) "And where would you like me to transport them to?" the CMO asked, raising her eyebrows. "The Cathay is floating dead in the water, three quarters of her crew compliment dead. The only reason my team and I are fine is because Sickbay on Steamrunners is the most protected part of the ship and Lieutenant Commander O'Conner reinforced that before we went into battle. I don't show signs of our battle because Ops threw us through decontam on our way off ship." Archibald sighed and rubbed his eyes. "My apologies, Commander, I did not know. But I should not have taken it out on you. It's been a long day and it is not exactly all going my way." "Commander, I, of course, will start with the most injured, but I have to take assessment before I'll know who that is - unless I have your permission to breach Starfleet's laws of privacy and just scan each and every person here?" That earned a quick and humourless smile. Somehow Starfleet's laws were not that high a priority with him at the moment. When you drown, you reach for every life line that comes near you, not ask first whether it is ok to do so. "The worst wounded are in the infirmary in the back, Commander, I assume they will have little objection to you treating them. But the space there is sparse and the equipment is mostly inoperative so we took anyone who did not need immediate attention or were patched up out and assigned them defensive duties or other tasks that they could help with. But there are two doctors in the infirmary and I think they will welcome your assistance. They have been working non stop so far." (reply Roil, iyw) (Starbase Valhalla - Subsection 14, Temporary Command Center - CMO - Commander Dinnica Roil - 2048) Archibald got up and walked over to her, his eyes suddenly sparking with pent up anger, his voice a full octave louder. "And all YOU care about is the way you are treated by people who are ready to give their lives so that others may live? All YOU do is moan about your treatment? And you call yourself a doctor? We have two fu**ing biobeds over there, ready to give up the ghost at any moment and what do you do? Do you go scanning and triaging? Do you care? No, all YOU care about is the way YOU are treated, Well, DOCTOR, if my wounded are not transported out in one minute, as you can obviously transport in so you could as easily have transported THEM out, then, by GOD, you MIGHT as well poison the lot of them!" "And where would you like me to transport them to?" Dinnica asked, raised eyebrow. Somehow Stakes frustration and anger seemed to calm her down. With quiet intenseness she answered. "The Cathay is floating dead in the water, three quarters of her crew compliment dead. The only reason my team and I are fine is because Sickbay on Steamrunners is the most protected part of the ship and Lieutenant Commander O'Conner reinforced that before we went into battle. I don't show signs of our battle because Ops threw us through decontam on our way off ship." Or at least, that's what she guessed. It was why she hadn't shown up from planets covered in guts and gore before. As far as she knew it was standard package for the Cathay. It had certainly been used as a fore-runner for medical emergencies often enough. (Reply Stakes) "Commander," Dinnica said with an actual display of compassion that would have shocked anyone who'd met her previously or served with her, "I, of course, will start with the most injured, but I have to take assessment before I'll know who that is - unless I have your permission to breach Starfleet's laws of privacy and just scan each and every person here?" (Reply Stakes) (Reply Stakes, any) (Posted by Lorna) (Starbase Valhalla- Deck 54, Subsection 14- AOPS, Lt. Tollian Yalix- 2100) Tollian and Haverstaad had organized and retrieved all the personnel that he had brought along with them. They were filtering to the infirmary while Yalix and a couple of other officers were just moving the last of the supplies into a more readily accessible area for the 52nds position. As ordered, he had reassigned his able bodied personnel to perimeter and scouting duties. He himself grabbed a salami sandwich and a cup of cold tea. Despite what the tea would do to his physiology (Caffeine and Efrosians do not mix), he drank it. Feeling exceptionally high-strung and super alert, Tollian joined a security scouting patrol. (reply none) (posted by Daniel Greene) (Starbase Valhalla - Subsection 14 - Temporary Command Center - aCO Commander Archibald Stakes - 2128) "Come, Arc," Lydia said as she pulled the aCO away. "My men will take over guard duty. They are fresher and your men can do with a breather. And we need to talk." Archibald sighed then nodded. "You are right. Mister Stolev, Mister Haverstaad, have the men stand down. Apparently there is some warm spaghetti to be had from the replicator." Archibald nodded to the crew, then holstered his phaser and he led his wife to the cargo room, where he had installed himself earlier. Just before they reached it, he suddenly heard Lydia cough and he turned back and saw her grin behind her hand. As she caught his wondering look, she sniffed and just pointed to the cargo room or actually to the top of the doorway. Not understanding Archibald looked up until he saw black smears across the top and examining them closer he noticed that they were actually letters. R. E. A. D. Y. R. O.O. M. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Beggen Sir's pardon, Esm....Uhhh ... Petty Officer Stakes thought it was a good idea. Lieutenant Yalix apparently found some paint pots. You should see what she had us write in the corridor opposite, Sir." Archibald looked at the crewman with blackened hands. "And what would that be?" he asked, not really sure he wanted to know. "Boudicca Boulevard, Sir." Archibald stood there for a second, his face frozen, then grunted as he walked past the man into the cargo room trying to ignore the laughing of his wife. "She gets this rubbish from you," he said accusingly as he dropped himself in his chair. "Yes, and I love her dearly for it," Lydia said still laughing., "But Bill is you in short format and do you hear me complain?" Archibald regarded her with annoyance, then suddenly frowned. "Where is he? I didn't see him with you?" he asked, wondering why his son William, personal yeoman to his wife, hadn't showed himself. The laughter immediately stopped and her face turned grave. "I said we needed to talk. Dad took him and God knows where he is now. I heard it was on orders from Doenitz, to be sure of the loyalty of the remaining high command staff." "And you let him go?" "I didn't have much choice. But he is safe for now. He IS his grandfather and he loves that child. Not even Doenitz or his beloved sense of duty would make him turn against his own grandson." "But still...." "But still I want him out of their grasp," Lydia finished the sentence. "God knows what they will do, probably brain wash him an turn him into one of their own zombies. Not the life I intended for my son." "Nor I," Archibald said and was about to say more when he heard the sounds of a firefight nearby. He jumped up from his chair and was nearly out of the door when a short "Arc!" stopped him. "My men are quite capable," Lydia said. "I should know, I trained them. Besides, wouldn't you agree that we have more important fish to fry?" "Yes, but," Archibald started but shut up when Lydia gave him the look. "I have trusted them with my life. The least you could do is have some faith in my capabilities." Archibald sighed and sat himself down again. "So what were you planning on doing then? I'm not that mobile at the moment." Lydia looked at him and stepped closer to him taking his hands in hers and suddenly her face contorted and tears were starting to flow. "I don't know, Arc. They have my baby and I don't know what to do. I should but.. but .. " Archibald pulled her down on his knees and placed her head against his shoulder. "It's ok, Lydia, we will find a way." He comforted his wife silently and suddenly realised that it had not been his photographs that had turned her. He couldn't help but smile weakly at the thought then shook his head. If William was with his grandfather than he would be near Earth right now. Perhaps on Earth itself but more likely on the Mesopotamia, Admiral Gordon Barker's flagship. And now that the MDP had fallen, there was a good chance that when the opposition would realise the number of fleets opposing them, they would try to flee. And knowing the Mesopotamia, there was a good chance that they would succeed too. And there wouldn't be that many places that a Behemoth class could go to unnoticed. "We'll find a way," he repeated when he suddenly realised that the firing had stopped. He guided Lydia off his lap, just to have a quick peak to make sure that all was ok, when he saw a security officer point a Starfleet Officer towards him and his 'ready room'. He stepped out so that Lydia could have some time to 'repair' her looks and awaited the man, who he recognised as a Captain when he came closer. "Commander Stakes I presume? George Durand, USS Argo. Sorry we are late... we were... delayed. We stand ready to assist you. We have two medical teams, a damage control party, and three full security teams at your disposal. We had the Devil's own time to locate you, sensors in here are all but useless. I have 6 shuttlecraft ready for evac, with four more warming up. Better than that, our damage control party has two sets of pattern enhancers. We can set those up and beam any of your critical patients directly to the ship. The hospital ship McCoy is in the area as well. Oh... and your ship is where you left her. We've got her tractored and at station keeping. How might we assist you, Commander?" It took a while for Archibald to sink in but realised that for the 19th the war was now truly over, and the battle was won. He came to attention, then took the Captain's hand to shake it. "Thank you, Sir. That is good news. Things were a bit .... hairy ... down here at times. Assist us....." Archibald's voice trailed off as he contemplated it. We have a few officers still away from the main group and we would need to retrieve them. But first the wounded. The McCoy, you said? Yeah, first the wounded. The infirmary is in the back. There is also Commander Riol and her medical staff from the Cathay. They should probably go to the McCoy as well. So, yes, first we beam out the wounded, then Commander Riol and her staff and then we can see how many of us are still left here. Lydia? Do you need a lift?" Lydia stepped out of the 'office' and shook her head. "We have our own shuttles," she said with a nod. "Captain." "Oh, yes, Captain Durand, this is Admiral Stakes, my wife. It was her troops that assisted in the firefight earlier on." "A pleasure, Captain," Lydia said with a nod. "No, Commander, I was hoping to take you and Esmeralda with us to our ship." She saw his face and squeezed his hand. "But I understand that you need to be with your crew at a time like this. Just let me know when you will be able to .... talk again." "I will, Admiral," Archibald responded and shot her a quick smile before she walked out, gathering her men in the process. Archibald looked at her and sighed softly, until he turned back to the Captain. "Right then, we have about two hundred members of crew. Where can we place them? I want them to be as close to one another as possible." (Reply Durand, iyw) (Reply by all, if you wish, none) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) -USS Boudicca, NCC 49901 Star Trek: Freedom - http://www.startrekfreedom.com