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"Energize."
The world wavered briefly, then came into sharp focus once more. It took only a moment for his body to adjust to rematerialization. Colin Becker glanced around the small room, his expression one of amazement mingled with incredulity as he took in the dismal scene. The acrid scent of smoke lingered heavily in the air, irritating his lungs. Overturned furniture lay scattered about the floor, the crushed glass of a shattered monitor screen glittering in the light. A large stress fracture snaked across the cieling and climbed three quarters of the way down the far wall.
His counterpart, Captain Arlen Guenther, a large man with a head of thick yellow hair,let out a low whistle as he eyed the jagged crack which seemingly threatened to cleave the room in half.
"The foundation is solid." thier host hastily assured them. "We're quite safe."
Guenther and Colin exchanged dubious glances as thier attention turned to the red faced man who greeted them. His olive jumpsuit was sprinkled liberally with the white powder which seemed to coat every available surface.
"Roberto Alvarez, chief administrator of Nanking Station. Thank you both for coming so quickly."
"An asteroid did this?" Guenther frowned.
The bearded man nodded. "Unfortunately, Captain."
Prometheus had been patrolling the Karlon Sector when they were suddenly recalled by Starfleet and summarily dispatched to Nanking Station. A Federation mining colony conveniently located on a small moon within a mineral rich asteroid belt, Nanking had been hit by a breakaway asteroid. Unfortunately, many of the miners had been injured, and the station had suffered structural damage. Prometheus and the USS Daintree, the two nearest StarFleet ships, had been ordered to assist the ravaged mining colony.
"As our communique stated, we are at your disposal. How can we help you?" Guenther asked.
"We need medical attention for our w ounded, and engineers to help contain and repair the damage. Here are our station specs." He eagerly handed each captain a small metallic disc. "Our top priority is repairing our shields. We've been hit by the occasional stray rock before-our deflectors have always protected us. I dont understand what happened this time."
"You're lucky you've still got life support." Colin pointed out, unable to draw his eyes away from the fissured wall.
"Believe me, I know it. And we've got communications. If we hadnt been able to contact StarFleet, we would have had to wait for the supply freighter to find us. The next one's not due here for weeks." Alvarez said grimly.
Colin turned to Arlen Guenther questioningly. "We need to coordinate our engineering and medical staff. Your place or mine?"
Guenther grinned. "Yours, of course. I'ts been a long time since i've been on a ship that still had that new carpet smell. Not like my old bucket of bolts."
Colin grinned in response as he motioned for Alvarez to step closer. Tapping his commbadge, he ordered,
"Three to beam up."
****************
"Let me give you a hand."
It was the fifth time that Jason Amat had repeated his offer, but he had little hope that the sharp eyed woman would accept his help.
Rhianna Jorrell barely acknowledged his presence as she furiously applied her energies to peeling away a smoking circuit board. She didnt care if Jason Amat had two more years of experience than she--they had the same rank and title and she'd be damned if she'd just let him take over. Captain Becker had put her in charge of repairing the delta wing of the mining complex. It was up to her to delegate tasks to her staff and to those of the USS Daintree that had been assigned to her repair station. Daintree's CEO, Amat, was overseeing the repiars to beta section, yet somehow he always seeemed to be hovering near her, offering unasked for advice and making a nuisance of himself.
Rhianna should have realized there would be trouble when the Captain informed her that she and Daintree's CEO would be working together. Jason Amat was obviously very much accustomed to being in charge. What he didnt realize was that Rhianna had no intention of taking on a subservient role in this mission. Especially to him.
"There's an easier way to do that." he remarked as she pried a half melted panel loose with her fingers.
Rhianna glanced up at him sourly. "Thanks. But I dont believe I asked for your advice." she scowled.
He acquiesed with a nod of his head. "I can see that. Well, if you dont need m e, I'll be right across the corridor. Maybe when we finish, you'd care to join me for dinner onboard Daintree? I'll give you a tour of engineering." he suggested.
Rhianna smiled coolly. "I dont think so . But thanks for the offer."
Without another word, she pulled herself to her feet, tossed another circuit board onto the steadily growing pile on the floor, and marched determinedly in the direction of a tall, blond man deep in conversation with a Caitan.
"Ari." she snapped. "Do you have an extra toolkit?"
He clearly had been dismissed. Jason Amat smiled as he followed her lithe form with his eyes. He had enjoyed getting a rise out of Prometheus' CEO. She was beautiful when she was angry. What she lacked in personality, she more than made up for in looks. The current mission was looking better and better.
**************
Mark O'Conner scaned the station data logs, his eyes moving rapidly across the screen as he absorbed the information it held.
"What was your colony census again?"he asked.
"230" Roberto Alvarez answered promptly. He was seated across the table from Prometheus' first officer, his fingers tapping lightly against the mug of coffee in his hands.
"And all are accounted for?"
"All but three. There's so much debris and structural damage that I dont have much hope if they're buried under the rubble somewhere." Alvarez sighed. "Until you came, I couldnt spare the manpower to search for them properly."
Mark made eye contact with Turek, who, until this point had remained silent at his seat at the far end of the table.
"Would you look into that, Lieutenant Commander?" he asked.
Turek nodded slightly. "With engineering's approval, my staff will conduct a search for the missing miners."
"There's also an observation post on a nearby moon, manned by a small scientific team. They visit once a week for supplies. We tried to contact them but noone's responding to our hails. I'm worried they may have gotten hit too."
Mark made a notation on his PADD. "I'll inform Captain Becker.Maybe we can send somebody to check on them."
Turning back to the computer screen, Mark tapped another sequence of keys. "I see you've lost all the ore in your storage buildings when they collapsed. Terellium? Loracite? What kinds of metals are they?"
"Terellium is a component used in the hulls of battleships and mountable weaponry. It is difficult to damage and is quite durable, able to withstand extreme temperatures. It is not commonly used as the extraction process is time consuming and costly."
Alvarez nodded at Turek's explanation. "The Vulcan is correct. We only ship about half of what we extract to the Fleet shipyards. We sell the rest to a local Ferengi consortium. It's quite lucrative, actually."
"And loracite?"
"A rare purple gemstone only found in this part of the Alpha Quadrant. I'm told the Ferengi like to decorate their womens' jewelery with it."
"I suppose you sell that to the local consortium too?"
Alvarez nodded once more. "Ever since we discovered the first viable vein in an asteroid six months ago."
"Are these the data logs from the day of the accident?"
Alvarez glanced at the screen. "That's right." he agreed.
"We'll have to review them with engineering and see if we can figure out why the shields didnt hold." Mark murmured.
"I dont understand it. I've been adminstrator here for three years, survived five asteroid hits, and that's never happened before."
"We'll do our best to get to the bottom of things." Mark assured him. He glanced at his chronometer. "Let's take a break. Captain Becker invited us all to dinner in the messhall. We can discuss things further along the way."
**********
"I have no need for medical assistance." the Klingon sneered, baring his teeth.
"Mmmm."Mirana commented, studiously ignoring her patient as she ran a tricorder slowly across the length of his arm.
"Did you not hear me, human?"
He attempted to pull his arm roughly away, but Mirana snatched at his wrist, causing him to blanch in pain.
She decided now was not the best time to point out that she was only half human. Instead she smiled stiffly.
"If you would stop moving, it wouldnt hurt as much."
"It does NOT hurt." he growled.
"You have a fracture. I'm going to repair it now. With our without your cooperation. Am I clear?"
He glowered and continued to argue with obvious distaste. "It will heal on its own. A Klingon warrior has no need for a doctor.:
"Well, you're a Klingon warrior working for a Federation mining company. And we in the Federation find the medical profession useful on occasion."
Moving quickly so that he would not have an opportunity to pull away from her grasp, she ran the osteoblast regenerator over the shaft of his radius.
Klingons.
With an exasperated sigh, she said, "I suppose I can assume that you wont want a pain killer?"
"You are correct." he said. "Doctor." The inflection in his voice when he called her by her title was meant as an insult. Mirana could feel her patience coming to an end.
"Your welcome." she growled. "Not that you bothered to thank me."
The Klingon grinned ferally, showing his teeth. "In my culture, when a female growls, it is a sign of sexual attraction."
"And in mine, it is a sign that you are in danger of being physically injured. Now you'll excuse me before I'm tempted to break your other arm." she snapped, not bothering to wait for a reply as she gathered her instruments and stalked away.
She had spent the better part of her day in surgery, working on some of the more seriously injured--repairing crush injuries, stopping hemorrhages, replacing damaged organs. Once the critically wounded had been tended to, she and Valerie Otskaya, Daintree's CMO, had split up the less acute cases. So far this evening, she had seen 13 broken bones, a punctured lung, and 23 assorted gashes and lacerations. The injured had been herded into a large storage chamber where Otskaya's staff had worked with hers to efficiently triage the wounded. The makeshift surgical suite even had a semblence of a critical care unit for post operative patients. One of her nurses had volunteered to beam to Prometheus periodically to resupply Nanking's temporary hospital--neither ship's sickbay was big enough to accomadate the volume of injuries.
As Mirana headed towards the next patient, she made a mental note to requisition extra supplies at the next starbase they visited. She reached absently for the chart, glancing at the information the triage nurse had taken down earlier.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, not bothering to look up.
"Could be better."
Mirana glanced in her patient's direction at last, failing to hide the evident shock at seeing a Cardassian in a StarFleet uniform.
"Good evening, Doctor." he said gravely, amusement in his golden eyes.
It took a moment for her to find her voice. She hadnt seen a Cardassian face to face in a long time. Not since the summer before the Academy--and that was a memory better left buried.
She cleared her throat, struggling to regain the upper hand. The Cardassian leaned against the biobed, a small smile playing about his lips. Although he waited paitently for her to continue, he seemed to be enjoying her discomfort.
Glancing briefly at his pips before she addressed him, Mirana forced a tight smile to her lips.
"Ensign." she said coolly.
"Gered Kor, at your service." he extended a hand.
Ignoring it, she peered at his left thigh, which he gripped protectively with his other hand. Along one side, his pants had been torn away, exposing his skin and a long ugly gash which still bled profusely. She touched it gently with her gloved hand and he winced.
"Looks nasty. What happened?" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"I was repairing a console when a cieling beam fell. It sliced me right down the side."
"Youre an engineer?"
"Daintree's best." he boasted, a cocky grin on his face.
"Mmm." Mirana replied noncommittally. "Well, if that beam had hit you at a different angle, you might not have a leg anymore." she said callously.
"It's a good thing it didnt then." he shrugged, attempting nonchalance although he paled at her remark.
Mirana didnt reply. She rummaged through her instruments for an autosuture and tore away Kor's shredded pant leg to expose the entire wound. She could feel the scrutiny of his gaze as she slowly ran the autosuture across his thigh, growing more uncomfortable at her proximity to him by the moment. A tell tale flush crept across her cheeks as she fumbled with her instrument. When she had finished, she glanced quickly at the Cardassian, who met her eyes knowingly.
He knew she was uncomfortable, and he was enjoying it! Angrily now, she snatched the bioregenerator and ran it up and down the closed wound--the thin beam of violet light seamlessly knitting the edges of his skin together. What could have been an ugly scar vanished as he healed. He ran a hand down his newly repaired leg, and flexed a muscle tentatively.
"It's good as new." he said admiringly.
"Be careful." Mirana warned him grudgingly. "Favor your other leg for a day or two."
"I must pass my compliments on to your CMO."
"I AM the CMO." she said sharply.
Her comment only seemed to add to his amusement.
"I see."he said gravely.
Mirana frowned, unable to discern if he was mocking her. He continued to assess her with his unwavering gaze.
"Are there any other injuries you havent reported?" Mirana demanded.
"Regretfully, no." he grinned.
"Then you are free to go. Good day." she said tersely, gathering up her instruments once more.
"Thank you , Doctor. I am forever in your debt." He stood up from the biobed with a flourish, and nonchalantly crossed the room to the building entrance. Several heads turned as the Cardassian strolled past them and he seemed to revel in the variety of reactions his presence generated.
Once he had gone, Mirana let her breath out. She had not even realized she had been holding it. From the moment she saw him, she had resisted the urge to hurt the Cardassian the way his people had hurt her those many years ago. She could have refused to treat him and passed him off to another doctor. But she hadnt. Under the circumstances, she thought she had behaved very well indeed.
A Bajoran nurse silently appeared at her side,a scowl on her face.
"A Cardassian officer. What is StarFleet coming to?" she murmured reprovingly.
****************
Colin Becker glanced briefly at his first officer's report before returning the PADD to his desk. Seated across from him, Mark O'Conner waited patiently for his response. Life aboard Prometheus had much improved in the past few weeks. Colin didnt know what had happened since Mark had returned from shore leave, but there was a subtle change in his first officer which hadn't been there before.
Relations between them weren't exactly warm, but the underlying tension--at times bordering on hostility--had disappeared. His XO was less challenging, more supportive than he had been, a vast improvement in thier relationship. Whatever he had done during the recent shoreleave had left a significant impact. Not that Colin was complaining. If things continued on this track, everything might work out between them after all.
"Looks like you've got everything under control, Exec." he said mildly. "What's on the agenda for tomorrow?"
"Lieutenant Commander Turek is continuing his search for the missing miners and Lieutenant Jorrell and her engineering team are looking for possible causes as to why the station's shields failed. We are also embarking on a joint investigation of the observation post Administrator Alvarez mentioned."
"The one they have lost communication with?"
Mark nodded. "Daintree volunteered the ship--the SS Lightwing--a large shuttlecraft with decent shields and phasers if the team runs into trouble, which doesn't seem very likely. They're also supplying the pilot, an engineer and two security officers. We'll be sending two medical personnel in case of wounded, and an engineer of our own."
"That sounds like it will cover all the bases. How about the rest of the asteroid field? Is the station vulnerable to another stray hit while we're working on repairs?"
Mark touched a key on the PADd to bring up the next screen, and spun it around to face Colin once more.
"Lieutenant JG Ryan is working on that. Astrometrics has been running simulations and he assures me all current orbits are stable. The chance of an asteroid deviating to a new path which runs through Nanking Station is 2%. He will, of course, be monitoring the situation if anything changes."
"Excellent." Colin permitted himself a small smile.
He could have taken over the mission at any time, but he had not, choosing to allow Mark a chance to use his own initiative. He wanted Mark to understand that he was giving him an opportunity to earn his trust, and so far, he was succeeding.
"Thank you, sir." Mark's tone was cool and efficient, but held none of the defiance that it had in the past. His expression was typically unreadable, but remained devoid of censure.
"Keep me apraised of our progress, otherwise I have nothing further to add. Again, well done."
Mark nodded once more and rose. They exchanged pleasantries for a few moments longer and Mark departed. Once the door slid shut behind him, Colin looked thoughtfully through his XO's report once more. There was something about the mission that bothered him, there was something they were overlooking. He knew his team was doing its best, but the feeling of unease remained.
************
Mirana tightened her grip on her medkit as she stepped onto the transporter pad next to the other members of the away team. She studiously ignored the presence of Teresa Reed, her head nurse, who glared at her reprovingly from the doorway. Teresa hadn't wanted her to go-she had insisted that a CMO should stay aboard her ship-but Mirana had vetoed her. Of course she could have sent several candidates in her place, but she hadn't wanted to . Although Prometheus had had plenty of excitement in the past months, it hadn't particularly involved her department. She longed to join an away team--any away team--even to investigate an observation post whose communications equipment had most likely short circuited--just to have SOMETHING different to put in her personal log tonight.
Smiling at the medical technicians on either side of her, she nodded at the dark haired Ensign at the transporter controls. The world winked out of existence, then reappeared suddenly. She waited for her senses to reorient themselves and found herself facing a pleasant, sandy haired man in the pilot's seat.
"Welcome, Prometheus." he grinned. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Ethan Lange, your pilot this morning."
He pointed to his left. "These are our security escorts, Ensigns Tom Arquet and Lea Strauss."
Mirana nodded at the two officers in gold shouldered tunics.
"And here are two of our engineers, Lieutenant JG Tak Voss, and Ensign Gered Kor."
Mirana nodded at the Bolian, but her smile faltered somewhat when her gaze fell on the Cardassian.
"The doctor and I have met. Hello again."he said politely.
Ignoring him, Mirana made her own introductions and took the seat furthest from Kor.
"The post is only 10 minutes away at 1/2 impulse. We'll be there shortly, so relax and enjoy the ride." Lange remarked cheerfully as he plotted their course.
Mirana settled into her seat, enjoying the feeling of being part of an away mission and admiring the view as they sped effortlessly between the large, floating rocks. She could see Prometheus growing smaller and smaller behind them until it disappeared altogether. All too soon, her musings were interrupted by thier arrival.
"The observation post is onscreen." Ensign Strauss announced. The security officer was evidently doubling as navigator and co-pilot.
"Raise shields." Lange ordered, becoming suddenly serious, as he brought the shuttle to a complete stop. "Hail them."
Mirana leaned closer towards the viewscreen. The observation post was, indeed, suspended ominously before them. It's lights were dark, but there was no sign of damage or debris to the structure.
"They're not responding, sir." Strauss announced.
"Try all frequencies." Lange said quickly.
"I already have. I've been broadcasting continuously." she insisted.
Slowly, the Lightwing began moving, circling the station at 1/8 impulse. From all angles, the structure remained dark but intact. There was no physical evidence of an asteroid impact.
"It doesnt look like there's anybody home." remarked Ainya Gregor, one of Prometheus' medical technicians.
Strauss attempted scanning for life signs but the surrounding asteroids were emitting unusual interference, rendering her sensors useless.
"Now what?" she asked.
Lange did not respond. He glanced at his readings, then stared thoughtfully at the station and surrounding space. Suddenly, his eyes widened and his expression turned grim.
"We're getting out of here. Now. All secondary power to thrusters." he snapped, banking the shuttlecraft sharply to the left.
"Something's coming at us!" Strauss shouted as her eyes registered movement, frustrated at the shuttle's useless sensors.
Almost immediately, two sleek fighters appeared from behind a small asteroid, circling the observation post on an intercept path with Lightwing.
