Not even the ticking of a clock filled the silent void as the U.S.S. Argent Aurora sat patiently amongst few large asteroids, just as the ship and her crew had been ordered to. The mission was a delicate one, and required a small, nimble starship; something the Argent Aurora had been designed to be, as a Nova-class vessel. Sure, the ship was nearing her original construction lifespan and was scheduled for a refit & crew reassignment, but she was still fast and nimble for her size. Captain Jase Galleger stared tiredly at the viewscreen, resting his lightly bearded chin on his clasped hands as he leaned on his knees, sitting forward in his Captains Chair on the bridge. Hed been shifting uneasily in his chair for the last seven hours; he hated waiting games. He could be a patient man, but he often needed something to distract himself. He usually had a P.A.D.D. nearby that he kept several logic games on, but this morning hed gotten in such a rush to be on the bridge that hed left it in his quarters, and this mission was too important for him to just leave the bridge to get some games.
Of course, hed not expected to be sitting on the bridge for over seven hours, waiting.
Undercover operative extractions were delicate matters, and ones where the agent had been undercover in the Klingon Defense Force for over a year were tense. What made this more delicate for Starfleet Command was the fact that the agent had requested an emergency extraction, with only these co-ordinates in her message; no other information. The assumption was that she had discovered incredibly sensitive KDF information, and was either on the verge of being discovered or possibly already found.
Jase often missed the calming, steady ticking of his fathers old mechanical clock. He often got frustrated with long waits of this nature as in the absence of anything needing to be done or any kinds of distractions, he would start to miss things like that old clock, his mind drifted back to those old memories and there the pain waited Shaking his head clear and sighing in mild frustration, he glanced towards TPahl, his best friend & Chief Science Officer. Her stark white hair oddly blended into the light grays of the deck and wall platings, and even after years of friendship, still gave her an almost ghostly appearance, which was enhanced by her small, four-foot-eleven frame. The diminutive Vulcan woman was, as always, busy at her station, no signs of concern at all. He huffed to himself, smirking slightly Why should he expect less of her? That it was her cousin they were here to extract shouldnt be any reason to disrupt her duties. If there was anyone he felt he could count on under that kind of pressure, it was her. Jase stood, sighing as he did so. Seven hours of boredom was his absolute limit; he had to do something or go nuts. Besides; if experience had taught him anything, its that Murphys Law held true; the moment he left, hed be needed. He looked around the bridge slowly before speaking. Commander Rovla, the bridge is yours. Ill be a few mo
His sentence was cut off by several small warning alarms as a small Klingon ship, clearly damaged from a firefight, slowly de-cloaked on the viewscreen at the fore of the bridge. Thank you, Mr. Murphey Jase said, half under his breath. Rovola gave him a slightly puzzled looks, her Andorian antennae shifting slightly in curiosity, but she knew it best to ask about the comment later. TPahl reacted with her typical efficiency. Her hands flew over the console in front of her skillfully & swiftly, confirming the ships identity. Captain, its her. Theres severe damage to all systems, and she appears to have a hull breach, but the emergency force fields are holding. Main power is off-line, and emergency power seems to be already on the third redundancy series. She turned to face him; Jase could see the ever-so-faint glint of worry hidden in her eyes; they both knew only he saw it.
He looked from TPahl to the viewscreen as Rovola reported from her console, Captain, were being hailed on a secure channel, priority one. Jase glanced to Rovola long enough to relay the orders, Commander, open the channel.
The viewscreen flicked to a scene of the interior of the shuttle, a woman taking up the majority of the view. Her skin was a dark tan, her forehead rides not as prominent as most Klingons, but still very visible. A very brutal gash stemmed from above her left temple, down across her eye to curve onto the cheek of the same side; it was coated in emergency first-aid duro-plast, but her green Vulcan blood was plain to see & appeared to not be properly clotting. She was sweaty, and the air was visibly thick, with a small plasma fire in a containment field clearly visible behind her. Jases face was his usual, diplomatic mask as he spoke. This is Captain Jase Galleger of the Federation Starship, Argent Aurora.Weve secured this channel. Whats your current status?
The Vulcan woman seemed to gasp slightly for air for a moment, This is Commander Serrah; Ships systems are critical and failing, but thats unimportant. I must beam to your ship immedi Her words were cut off as a large, shadowy arm slammed into her head from behind, clearly slamming her into the video receiver, cutting the connection; the viewscreen immediately flickered to the view of her ship.
Jase snapped into action. Fifi! He shot to his Chief Engineer. The Borg implant over the left eye of the Liberated woman flickered as it enhanced her minds processing capabilities, her hands flying over the console in front of her with her typically mechanical accuracy & speed.
Unable to get a transporter lock; too much interference from several plasma fires throughout her ship. Theres a small beam-in window on the port side of the vessel; an armed away team with a transporter tag would be the most effective way to retrieve her, Sir.
Jase nodded to Rovola, Fifi, then pointed to Lt. Commander Kordar; the Klingon grunted and nodded his acknowledgement of the order and was first at the turbolift. As Jase began to move towards the turbolift after his officers, TPahl stood Captain, with your But Jase cut her off; his voice understanding, yet firm.
TPahl, you know why I cant let you come. He turned to face her as he spoke. I know its family over there; thats exactly why I need you here. We dont know whos still over there, and I need you here to pull us out in an instant; youre pretty much the best for the job. His eyes told her much more, and after a brief moment, she nodded in acceptance.
Yes, Sir Her voice wavered slightly.
You have the Bridge, TPahl. Jase said as he stepped onto the turbolift, facing the bridge as the doors swished shut.
Thanks very much, one of the biggest compliments I've ever had I didn't even realize I'd forgotten to fix the name error; thanks for that, too I've fixed it AND expanded the post
Comments
However... one tiny little nitpick. Your Captain went from being Captain Jase Gallegher to then Captain Jase Langdon
I love Jase' personality. He is very Jack O'Neil like, sarcastic yet decisive keep it up buddy