Manatee Mayhem

Posted on Fri Jul 8th, 2022 @ 10:30am by Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant JG Peri Valeri & Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii & Lieutenant JG Jason Williams & Ensign Rishi Chabbra & Chief Petty Officer Celeste Summerby

1,460 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Bandits of Black Rain
Location: Various
Timeline: After "When It Rains..."

ON

The bridge crew watched the progress of the two shuttles on the viewscreen as they made their way toward the nebula and the other ships.

"Any signs of other ships in the area?" Grace asked the officer at security.

Williams checked the console. "No sign of any ships in the immediate area, commander." He was happy to be at tactical, but he had wished that since he came up with the shuttle idea, that he would have been the one selected to fly it.

Ensign Chabbra turned at the science station. He had been monitoring the nebula's interference as Grace had instructed. "Commander, I believe we can get a better scan on the SS Manatee."

"Excellent. Please do so." Grace sincerely hoped this would give them the information they needed on the nebula and who was in it. She was half expecting to find the pirates waiting to ambush anyone who came to help.

The Ensign spent the next several minutes monitoring the nebula, scanning the immediate area to the best of Ontario's abilities, and hoping to give the First Officer what she was looking for. Unfortunately, there was not much for Rishi Chabbra to find. "I'm sorry, Commander, but I am not detecting anything out of the ordinary. It appears to be a clear path to the S.S Manatee. Though that doesn't mean we are entirely alone out here, just that if someone or something is, it is well concealed."

"Thank you." Grace hoped the pirates were only after cargo and were now gone, but without evidence either way, she couldn't rule out anything.

"Ms. Valeri, open a channel to the Manatee."

"Yes, ma'am," Peri said, again opening a channel to the merchant ship.

Aboard the Manatee, a woman slipped into the Captain's chair with word that the Ambassador class starship was in range for smoother and crisper communications. "USS Ontario, this is the SS Manatee do you read us? This ship is badly damaged. We have life support, but I'm not sure for how much longer."

"We read you," Grace replied. "We can scan you, but we're not yet in transporter range. Is the ship that attacked you still around?" That was the first question she needed to know. If the pirate ship was still around, they'd have to be prepared to meet them. If not, they could focus solely on rescue.

A deep exhale came from the woman. "The Manatee was attacked by a Klingon Vor'cha class attack cruisers. I cannot tell you whether it is still around or not. This is Lieutenant Commander Nica Randgrid of the Federation Starship Fitzgerald. My starship responded to the Manatee's distress call for assistance, and the attack cruiser returned to finish them off."

Randgrid's voice was steady and she was clearly trying to be as direct as she could. "We did not expect them to return, but they did and the Fitzgerald was not ready. Our Captain...we just weren't ready."

The Fitzgerald? Grace sent a message through her armchair console for Yiv to pull up everything he could on the Fitzgerald, its captain, and on Randgrid. She needed confirmation that this woman was who she said she was. She wanted intel to do it in case there was anything they had the main computer did not. "Why weren't you ready and what happened to the captain of the Manatee?"

"Several reasons," replied Ran grid. "For starters when we showed up, the Manatee was practically disabled, a few moments later and there wouldn't be a Manatee to speak of. The Fitzgerald sent the attack cruiser limping away, but we didn't do so without taking significant damage ourselves. We managed the best we could, but it was a chihuahua taking on a pit bull, and the chihuahua won...briefly."

Looking up from his duty station, Yiv clocked the conversation going on, and decided not to interrupt. Instead, he sent the data to Vetur's chair console. With a ping, the chair alerted her to the particulars of the Fitzgerald. Apollo-class, a smaller counterpart to the Excelsior produced in the early-to-mid 23rd century and superseded by the more favoured Nebula-class of explorers.

The Fitzgerald was a smallish, short-range explorer barely crewed by four hundred on a good day, and no extensive upgrades for a few decades. She had been on a mission to monitor electromagnetic distortions in the Bassen Rift in the old Romulan Neutral Zone. They were plausibly close to enact a rescue. But a science vessel of that ilk against a Vor'cha cruiser? Yiv let out a sigh. They were incredibly lucky.

He also transmitted an image of Lieutenant Commander Monica 'Nica' Ran grid, the Chief of Security of the Fitzgerald. She seemed to match the half-human on the viewscreen now. The Efrosian noted that the Fitzgerald's Commanding Officer was a Captain Irene Dukakis. He wondered what had become of her and her ship.

Lieutenant Commander Randgrid continued on, knowing the Ontario's crew and command staff should know more. "If you think your Ambassador class starship and your crew are ready for that attack cruiser or what else is out here, you are woefully mistaken just like we were" she said crisply and pointedly.

"My Captain, her First Officer, and Second Officer were in the Briefing Room with the Manatee's Captain and others when the attack cruiser returned to finish what they had started" added Randgrid. "In less than two minutes, our shields were whittled down, disruptors chiseled our bare hull, and a well-placed barrage of photon torpedoes tore us apart, hull breeches - the Briefing Room was gone" Randgrid's voice trembled a bit and turned to cold silence.

Grace looked down at her console and read Yiv's message, then back at the viewscreen. "How long ago was this attack?"

"Approximately four hours ago," Lieutenant Commander Randgrid replied plain and simple. "We have been limping around trying to get a distress signal out, but this damn nebula has been a hindrance. I took command of the Fitzgerald and ordered an evacuation though I regret I was unable to activate the self-destruct."

So many things that went wrong. So many things she could be lying about. Or not. Grace nodded. "Thank you. Send me a damage report so I can prepare teams to assist you. We'll contact you again when we're in transporter range. Ontario out."

Peri closed the comm channel. She wanted to see this report. Haruna would as well--as long as this wasn't a trap.

"Open a channel to Commander Chernova."

"Summerby here, I'm afraid the Commander is otherwise engaged. Ontario we've picked up our crew and are towing the Carta Marina home." The Lieutenant replied.

"What is the status of the crew and what have you learned?" Grace asked. She still needed information.

"Lieutenants Stone and Balor have minor injuries, Lieutenant Zero is currently incapacitated." Summerby said. "The crew of Carta Marina also recovered three bodies from the Manatee."

"Can you bring them back, or do you need us to transport them to the Ontario?" Grace was concerned about Zero. They had the facilities to help him here, if needed.

"We have the bodies aboard, ma'am." Summerby said. The Security officer was loath to say anything further over an unsecured channel.

Tensing up, Yiv glanced up from his console and across to the viewscreen, Percy's hurt. He understood it was minor, but that didn't stop cold tendrils wrapping around his chest and making it hard to breathe for a moment. The Efrosian forced himself to calmness, breathing slowly as he returned to his duties. Nothing I can do but wait, he thought, glancing at the chrono. Too much duty shift to disappear for now.

"Rendezvous with us at your earliest opportunity," Grace said. "We should be in transporter range shorty. Let us know if you need further assistance." She understood the need to wait to discuss what happened in person, but she was feeling increasingly uneasy with the situation.

"Understood, ma'am. Summerby out."

When the connection closed, Grace looked around the bridge. "Okay, everyone. We're not sure if this is going to be a rescue or a trap. We need to be prepared for both. Valeri, alert medical to prepare for wounded."

Peri nodded and sent the message. She was worried about Zero. He was her department head and a good guy. She hoped he was going to be okay.


____
OFF

Lieutenant Commander Grace Vetur
Executive Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Celeste Summerby
Security Investigations Officer
USS Ontario

Ensign Rishi Chabbra [npc - Percy Bálor]
Science Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii
Chief Intelligence Officer

Lieutenant JG Peri Valérie
Assistant Chief Operations Officer

Lieutenant JG Jason Williams
Assistant Chief Operations Officer

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