On the Bridge

Posted on Wed Oct 7th, 2015 @ 12:41am by Commander Bertrand Cuprum & Captain Elijah Michaels & Johnathen Wade & Lieutenant Valeria Mordin

Mission: Commanding the Elements
Location: USS Victory - Bridge

Bertrand began to issue orders as the CO and XO left, "Transporter room 5, stand by to beam the Command, Flight, Engineering and Medical teams to the capital. Room 3, stand by for Security and Engineering teams to be transported to Ca'ael. Other transporters rooms stand by to receive refugees. Extraction rota Delta, keep them moving. Ops and Security details to help with moving personnel to designated refuges."

"Mickey, I need you to keep ahead of the load of people and find us as much spare room as you can that we can put people. When we are full start to find any other ships that can take more people and use our transporters to help fill their bays too. Can we use the Replicators to produce the blankets and other supplies we will need?"

"You got it, Commander. I'll get right on it," Mickey said as he got and went to the backup stations to coordinate everything and get the supplies readied, for the people and making room on the ship. It would be a tough challenge but he would probably see if he can get as many as they can up here.

"Commander, again what's the population of the planet?" Aladdin said from the backup stations standing by Mickey.

"The colony being affected has a population of about twenty five thousand," Valeria fielded the question.

"Well, depending on if everything goes according to plan. Looking at the blueprints, we can put about over 1200, or 5000 people. That's about one-third of the planets populations Valeria. Can you confirm?" Mickey said as he transferred the data to the junior officer.

"Five thousand is about one fifth of the colony's total population of twenty five thousand," The rabbitess turned to look over at Mickey with those pale blue eyes, eyes that had no reflection to them at all. "Please confirm twelve hundred, or five thousand."

"As many as we can," Bertrand said. "It is a short hop back to the station so we can fill over our 1200 minimum, but our life support systems will start to fail if we take more than 5000. I believe the brief is only around 2000 that don't have other means of transport."

Mickey looked back at the specs to see, in the utmost emergency, how many this ship can carry, "Confirmed, Val. The ship can carry a maximum of 5,000 people. Commander Bertrand, even so, but there is plenty of room for more," Mickey looked at the senior officer of the ship speaking of the specs and his opinion.

"Space is not the problem, Mickey," Bertrand said moving to the Captain's chair but refraining from sitting. "It is about power drain and system loads. We can only processes so much oxygen ship wide. No good rescuing 10,000 people if we all die of asphyxiation before we arrive home. Let's just stick with the plan, it is not time for adventurous stuff. We can do the job and work within the specs and everyone gets a free ticket out of here."

"Lt McClain, contact the Co and confirm he arrived on the ground safely."

"Victory to Commander Michaels. Please confirm you're on the ground," Mickey called from the back station.

"Michaels here, yes I am Lieutenant," the Commander said on the Channel. "Will keep you updated, Michaels out."

"Lt Mordrin, contact the USS Tesla. An Oberth is not much use to us as a mass evacuation ship, but its advanced sensors may be able to give us some warning of the sun's activity. I want you to have them move to a close observation point of the star and update us by subspace of anything they find." Bertrand glanced at the science officer, "And if you can translate what they find into Flat-foot, I would appreciate it."

"I'm fluent in seven dialects of Flat Foot, sir." She commented with a smirk as she raised the Tesla on the Science Console. A Vulcan science officer on the Tesla fielded the comm on the Tesla's end. "This is Sinnok, USS Tesla. Your transmission is clear Victory."

"Valeria Mordin, USS Victory. Advising to relocate to coordinates two seven four mark six by eight four mark two. This will put you clear of the elliptical plane for clearer sensor readings. Patch all solar activity to craft engaged in the evacuation." she advised the Vulcan. Sinnok, on the comm screen, gave a nod. "I will advise the captain. Stand by for sensor feed. Sinnok out."

The rabbitess then turned to Bertrand, and gave him a nod.

"Good," Bertrand acknowledged. "Two days should be close to enough to get everyone off world, but I don't want any nasty surprises."

T -48 hours
The ensign now manning tactical glanced down and announced, "The USS Agamemnon has just dropped out of warp."

"About time," Bertrand grumbled. "McClane, find them an orbit that will get them over the major population centres. Have the Prospero try and focus on filling its last few beds with the smaller, more remote habitations."

"Locating, Commander, Standby." Mickey said as he looked for a safe area in orbit for the Agamemnon. If not timed properly it would be a disastrous mission.

"Alright people, hand over to next shift when you can," Bertrand ordered. "We'll be here for a while, so no point burning out."

Aladdin spoke up to the commander. "Well Bertrand, my good man, your going to have to get security on us. We're staying here to see to it that we get it done." The Acting Ensign looked at the acting captain. Mickey just couldn't help but smile a bit as he almost found the spot where the ship can be in orbit avoiding the solar flares from the sun.

Bertrand glanced at Aladdin, "What?"

"We will be on it until they're all aboard" Mickey said to the commander.

Bertrand rolled his eyes, "Save me from heroes and idiots. Do I have to force you to do everything with orders, Mickey? Do you not have anyone ELSE in your team who is competent enough to do the job while you sleep. There are reasons we are only aloud to serve 12 hour emergency shifts. The longer you stay awake the more impaired your judgement becomes. You make mistakes, people die."

He checked the time, "You have till dawn, that's four hours, or T-44 to have stand down and get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep. THAT is an order."

Mickey Smirked at his remark then spoke to him in his mind. "Like I said commander, the only way your going to drag me off the bridge is either stun me or put a tranquilizer on me. But i will comply." Mickey said as he sent the coordinates to the ship.

"And... on that note, good night gentlemen. Dreams of hope." she bid the trio as her replacement from the Science division came to relieve her. After a brief dialogue about the current situation and emergency procedures, the rabbitess turned away and made her way off the bridge.

=A= Away team to Victory. We need some extra power at the hospital, and any field generators you could spare. Also we are running dangerously low on medical supplies and beds. =A=

=A= Stand by, away team. I am sending you the supplies and extra power now.=A= Mickey said as he brought more help to the away team down on the planet to help.

T-44
Dawn came to Capital city beneath them and Mickey was the last person from Alpha shift still on station. His beta shift operations Ensign was standing ready to take over when ever Mickey signed out.

Mickey looked at the ensign. He was on adrenaline, and drinking lemon tea to keep himself awake. It was time for him to sleep Aladdin looked at him and the Ensign. "Ensign, keep it up the good work. And for that i bid you guys good night" Mickey and Aladdin left the bridge. When in the entering the turboift, he said something in his mind to the commander. "I'm going now, good night." Mickey said as the lift closed and the beta ensign took over while he bid commander Bertrand good night.

If Bertrand heard, he didn't respond. Despite Mickey's suspicion that the man never slept, and never went off duty, the Betazoid acting Captain was currently out cold on his bunk.

T -36
Mickey took the minimum sleep he could and was back on deck 8 hours later. Bertrand and Valeria were already there, though from Bertrand's expression he had not arrived much before.

As the turbo lift doors opened for the Chief of Operations, he could see the face of Captain Porsche of the USS Prospero on the main screen.

"We'll take any of the freighters and the like with us, but it will be slow going. You may even get back to the station ahead of us."

"Understood, Prospero," Bertrand confirmed. "Thanks for your help. Safe travels."

He turned and saw Mickey and gave him a nod, "The Prospero has reached capacity. Signal the command post of her departure. Also, let the Starport know that all further flights will need to rendezvous with the USS Cairns."

"OK, Commander," Mickey said in short as he was rested up.

The ensign who was on operations reported to Mickey as he handed the role back, "The Cairns is already at 87% capacity. She won't be able to use transporters now that she is using her shields for the unprotected freighters, but even so, she should reach projected capacity in another six hours."

"I'll deal with that. Go get some rest," Mickey relieved the ensign on duty and returned to work.

"Valeria," Bertrand asked, "What is the status of the solar activity?"

"Solar activity is steady at 'abnormally above average'." she reported, translating into Flat-Foot as requested. "Predictive models remain unchanged, and estimate we'll see the peak of solar disruption in roughly thirty six to forty standard Terran hours." a pause, "I'll put a countdown on the main screen."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Bertrand stifled a yawn and went to sit down. At the last minute he remembered it was the Captain's chair he was nearly sitting in and sat bolt upright like he had been stung.

"Someone get me a coffee," he grumbled.

An ensign from the operations office made commander Bertrand Irish coffee. Bertrand accepted the coffee gratefully, but as he raised it to his mouth his nose caught the whiff of alcohol and he froze. Very slowly he lowered the coffee.

"Thank you, ensign," he said hoarsely. "I... think I might prefer a tea.

Before the ensign left. He kindly let the commander know it wasn't any Irish coffee. "Commander, we took per-cautionary measures it is the syntholic brand. It also has green tea as well and we know it has the smell but it was from Lieutenant McClane himself to only give you the non-alcoholic brand synthohol." The ensign smiled and took his leave from the bridge.

Bertrand nodded but still looked uncomfortable. It smelled real, and it probably tasted real... really good.

Valeria's people prided themselves on protocol and diplomacy. Everything in their lives was a form of communication, from playing Shogi to making War. Bertrand's conflict was a moment of tension, and the rabbitess was there at his side to ease that burden with a teacup and a coaster. The teacup had a tea as black as the void between the stars, with a single petal of a flower of sorts floating atop it. "Something more to your liking then. Don't mind the petal, it breaks the color tension. A ship on a sea, adrift but not lost."

Bertrand nodded as he wordlessly swapped cups with the CSO. He couldn't help watching the cup depart though. He took a swig of the tea screwed up his face. It just wasn't the same.

"All right, 36 hours puts the arrival at about dusk for Capital City. That's one more night and two daylight cycles to get everyone out of there."

"I will admit that it is a taste to grow used to..." the rabbitess said as she returned the 'offending' beverage to be recycled. "Though, perhaps the taste will help keep you awake. I'm something of a connoisseur myself truth be told, and I find that certain teas do not replicate well." she gave a quirk of an eyebrow as she passed by the commander's presence. Idle curiosity overtook her for a moment, "To your liking?"

Bertrand pulled a face, "I have drunk worse. I have seldom found 'Acquired tastes' are worth the effort of acquiring."

Mickey scanned The Cairns, checking it's status at how many more people it has left before moving off. "Commander Bertrand, The Cairns is at four-fifths capacity. By my readings in 6 hours she will be at full capacity, leaving us and the Agamemnon in orbit," Mickey looked at his readings in the screen of the backup ops.

Bertrand breathed deeply, "Just keep loading them till she's full. We expected to run out of room on the support ships; that's why we're here.'

He found himself taking another sip of the tea. He pulled a face again but didn't put the cup down.

"When we do get this done, our people are going to need some down time and a hot shower." He pulled up the astro-navigational charts. "There is an Orbital base, only three light years away in the Kellat system, that prides itself on the quality of its recreational facilities. Run by Risans. Holds about 2,000 people, so should be able to take the whole crew for some shore leave. What do you think?"

"Some people relax differently than others. While exemplary recreational facilities may appeal to some, others may just want to do nothing." Valeria commented as she pulled up a brochure on the station on a spare screen. "Three decks of observation lounges... hmmm, I do believe this site should do the proverbial trick, sir."

The rabbitess turned to include Mickey and the others in on the discussion.

Mickey wasn't going to answer, he was too busy with the task at hand but Aladdin knew what he was thinking but he spoke for the duo. "Sorry, but there is no time to relax until we get the job done. But, i sense something is not right, because this seems off i don't know. But, until we get this done there is no time to think about relaxing." Aladdin said as he stood next to Mickey

"If you never take the moment to consider the end of a task, you'll forever remain in the middle of it." Valeria cited, as though quoting some ancient piece of Ts'usu wisdom. "And that 'off feeling' you feel could simply be trepidation, or a feeling of readiness in case the unforeseen occurs. Just don't spend so much effort considering all angles that you are blinded to what actually happens." she warns, while calculating the most recent solar activity telemetry.

"There's no time to think about relaxing Lieutenant. I sense that something is going to change all this. Just like that, in a flash, something is gonna happened. I will remain alert. Thank you for your wisdom, though, but I am going to stay on alert." Mickey said as he continued the working the job.

She gave a smirk at his commentary. Not out of disrespect, but more amusement. "Not all change is bad. Was it not the desire for change that drove humanity to explore the stars?" she idly questioned, though paused as she handled the latest figures. "Latest solar reports are in. For lack of a more accurate phrase, sir... we're on schedule."

Bertrand took another sip of the tea, without even realizing he had done so the cup was half empty. "Winston Churchill, a famous human leader, was once asked to cut the Arts budget to support the war effort. He declined, saying 'What would we be fighting for then?'. There is more to life than productivity."

"Appreciation for the arts above the art of war. Tell me, did this Churchill have long ears, sizable feet, and a preference for tea?" she mused with a smirk, motioning to her own lengthy ears.

"He was British, so I would think Tea would rate very highly with him," Bertrand allowed.

"That being said," he nodded to the pair at operations, "Commitment to duty is an admirable thing. I know you two manage to find time to unwind. We need to find a way for all of the crew to do that without having everyone sit on the Hull."

Mickey had turned around for a minute while the backup ops officer continued he then needed to get somethings off his chest. "Commander Bertrand, Permission to speak freely?" He asked the commander nicely.

Bertrand looked surprised, "Erm, granted."

"Commander, if we think about anything right now, will mess up. People will die. I know you told me that but in a different way, but the fun should put aside for later. Besides, when it comes to the job we are here to explore the unknown and to face many dangers along the way. But what's the point of it, we have to stay focused at the task at hand. I know I am making an ass of myself. But when wearing the uniform, we have to maintain a sense of duty. When all is said and done then we can relax." Mickey finally caught his breath and went to the main ops station near the command post.

Bertrand nodded, "And I know many Vulcans who would thoroughly approve of that attitude. However, there are reasons we roster eight hours of recreation into a standard day shift. People aren't machines. Keep up the good work Lieutenant."

"With respects and permissions, may I add to the comment?" Valeria asked the two... technically three of them.

Bertrand nodded, "I don't see why not, while it's not stopping you doing your job."

"Firstly, I want to say that I admire your dedication, Mr. McClane, but in the end the hare didn't win by pushing himself constantly." she said with a nod, "I understand your focus, but if you cannot see beyond the moment at hand, you'll overfocus. You'll push yourself so hard that you'll wind up making the mistake you wish to avoid so. A travelling teacher stated that a rigid branch endures much, but the branch that bends endures the storm. Oddly fitting, if I must say."

"Also, don't be so negative towards yourself. We are our own harshest judges, yes. Though, if it will help everyone involved, Mr. Bertrand and I will forego talk of the reward until we're in orbit around the proposed destination." she added with a smirk.

"As Ambassador Spock once said, god rest his soul, there are always possibilities" Aladdin had chimed in his opinion just so he can get his two cents in.

Bertrand frowned, "That would be... Ambassador Spock who failed to re-unify the Romulans and Vulcans, and then died trying to save their planet?"

Aladdin whispered to himself. "But it wasn't his fault, and there was no sign of the wreckage of the jellyfish." Aladdin said to himself

"I always per..- hold please." Valeria stopped mid-addition to confirm receipt of the latest solar scans, and after a nod, she made no further changes. "Updated solar activity scans, sir. Moderate spike in solar spot activity. Expected to last roughly two hours, though it shouldn't destabilize communications with the away teams any more then we're already experiencing. This event was in the prediction model."

Bertrand nodded, "Inform the Cairns to adjust her shields around the freighters she is protecting. Go on, Lt."

She cleared her throat, and then, "Where was I, oh yes. I always personally felt that half of the fun of a puzzle was the process of solving it. If you found a puzzle without a solution, trying to find one would be fun for the first few weeks, but then would grow annoying. On the opposite, if a game was too easy, there would be no challenge. No real process." she explained while tapping away at her console, adding the latest data to the building log of data on the star. "In the long run, sometimes it's just more enjoyable not to play some games. The possibility, as you put it, may just be to not involve oneself."

"Apologies... I'm monopolizing the conversation. Someone else, please." she motioned abroad to the bridge, as though yielding her time on the floor.

T-30.
It was 6 hours into the shift and the planet below sat in darkness. The USS Cairns hailed the Victory, and Mickey answered. He was managing the comtraffic flow between various ships in orbit and while keeping the flow of traffic in order. "Commander Bertrand, the Cairns is at capacity. They're moving off." There were only two ships left the Agamemnon and the Victory.

"Understood," said Bertrand. "Tell the Agamemnon to focus on the Captial city. That is the major centre of population. re-route all freighters to her for shielding."

"There's a few remaining freighters left, but, unfortunately it will disable the transporters and slow our time down to evacuate the planet," Mickey replied through the backup station.

"Those freighters need protection," Bertrand acknowledged. "No good us saving everyone and leaving them to microwave while in orbit. How is our own Hull holding up, Valeria?"

"Victory's hull is..." tap tap tap when the rabbitess, "... at full integrity and holding. Integrity field holding steady. We're well within safe, sir."

"We will need to focus on the final pass over the remaining remote areas tomorrow. We still have over a day to collect our stragglers."

"Commander, I am sensing there isn't enough time left. I don't know but something is not right!" Mickey exclaimed but kept cool about it. Aladdin just laid his head on his leg and Mickey scratched it.

Bertrand frowned, "Valeria, confirm with the Tesla that we are still 30 hours from the cataclysm event."

"Aye." Valeria confirmed, then set about contacting the Tesla and getting the latest solar activity data. After a brief moment of compilation and calculation. "We're still within the projected model, plus or minus a few seconds."

Bertrand nodded, "There we are then. We have time. Let's not allow our imaginations to run away with us."

"Computer models, they can say anything. But remember this, expect the unexpected" Mickey said in short.

"Very cryptic," Bertrand grunted. "I might just search the unsearchable to see if I can find the un-findable while I am at it."

Valeria actually gave a sigh, "If you're going to discount any insight that scientific research can offer, and just wait for something to come up that that wasn't exactly predicted by the model and just give me some 'I told you so' account, I might as well return to my chambers and sleep off this rescue." she didn't sound entirely pleased, but she maintained a civil display.

"Expect the unexpected. We're depending on this data to give us as much of a view into the next thirty hours and it almost... Almost... sounds like you're waiting for it to be wrong."

T-28

It was nearing the end of the eight hour shift, Mickey had already gone of duty, when the comms received the following message form one of the freighters.

=^= Moriloth to Victory. I am encountering some technical difficulties. We have a plasma leak and I am loosing power to the RCS. =^=

Bertrand barked to his bridge staff, "Report!"

"The craft in question is a modified long-tier cargo vessel. Current crew and passenger count 200." Valeria replied, "Sensors show power levels are in flux but life support has not been affected at this time."

Bertrand met eye with Valeria. The Victories transporters were running hot with refugees and the Agamemnon had her shields up. He moved to the tactical Station.

"They are to far for any tractor beam," he growled. "Victory to Moriloth. Can you stabilize the power drain?"

=^= Negative commander. I am pulling power from the IDF, but that is straining the Structural integrity fields. =^=

"Suggestions?" Bertrand looked around.

"Lean the ship into the gravity well of the planet and let gravity pull us. We slide towards Moriloth's craft and then use the gravity assist to slightly accelerate and resume our orbit." Valeria offered after a moment's thought. "Have the incoming transport spike their acceleration to bring them closer to us so as to not compensate our orbital position entirely."

"Barring that, the range of the tractor beam system could be boosted by tethering it to a graviton field emission from the navigational deflector dish." she paused, remembering her promise to translate into Flat Foot.

"Option one is we slightly fall into the planet's gravity to bridge the distance. Option two is we use the navigational deflector to boost the Tractor beam's range." She translated. "Option one requires that we move, option two requires accurate aim with something that isn't technically a weapon."

Bertrand thought furiously, "Our best helm officer is aboard that shuttle, and I don't want to start flinging a ship this big around among all of those small craft still coming up if we can help it. The Sovereign class is not designed to atmospheric motion."

"As for targeting, we do have the CTO on the bridge," he said with a sigh, "I just wish he was better at manual targeting. How long will it take to realign the deflector?"

=^= I've lost sensors, =^= Moriloth reported, the whine of ship under strain in the background of her transmission. =^= I am to high to try landing again. I am going to push on to try and get above this weather. =^=

"Charging and realignment will take..." a pause to actually calculate, "... Seventy four seconds."

=^= I am loosing altitude! I am going to have to try and put her down.=^=

"Hold tight, Ensign. We are coming!" Bertrand called but then said to the Bridge. "Her ship is breaking up. I can't get a firm tractor lock on anything."

=^= We've lost IDF and our SIF is failing. I don't think we can...=^=

Bertrand glanced at the Ensign at operations who shook his head, "Communications is dead sir. They may have lost their transmitter."

Glancing back to his panel Bertrand saw more bad news, "They have dropped off sensors. I didn't see if they made it down again. Valeria?"

A pause from the rabbitess as she re-scanned. "I'm not able to make solid confirmation." she paused as she glanced over at Bertrand, before tapping at her console. "I'll mark their last known location in the sensor log for reference. When we're capable, we can come back and survey."

She took a breath, "It's highly probable, with Moriloth at the helm, that they will survive re-entry. Losing power or not." another pause, "As long as they survive re-entry, they can use the freighter as shelter from the storm."

Bertrand sighed heavily and looked at the operations officer. On a ship this big it was impossible to get to know everyone, and this person was new to him.

"Ensign...?" Bertrand asked, prompting for a name.

"Mollay Sir, Sean Angus Mollay"

"Log the stardate Ensign Morolith went MIA, and a request to adjust the rosters to cover her shift," Bertrand rubbed his gloved hand with his other. "Contact the starport and let them know we are a shuttle down now. Did I forget anything?"

Mollay let his fingers fly across the keyboard "Logged and sent Sir" a few more taps on the console "The Agamemnon has reached capacity sir and are in need to depart. That would leave us as the only remaining ship in orbit with approximately 25 hours left until event occurrence"

Bertrand nodded wearily, "Well then, I am going to try and get a couple of hours sleep so I can be on deck for when we finish up. Wake me before the load is complete, or if there are another major developments."

T -24 hours: T-2 hours revised.

The Bridge was almost deserted, most of the senior command crew having retired for a rest before the final evacuation push. Mollay was monitoring the comms chatter when a message came in from off world.

=^= This is a Priority One emergency message from the USS Tesla to the USS Victory. Come in Victory! =^=

"This is the USS Victory, we are reading you loud and clear Tesla."

=^= Victory, the star is de-stabilizing much faster than predicted. It has undergone a cascade depolarization event. Activity is up 30% and climbing.=^= Mollay couldn't help notice the decidedly un-Vulcan desperation that was creeping into the voice at the other end of the comms =^=We've taken a hit from a plasma ejection event and it has depolarized our Warp Nacelles and we've lost shields. New predictive models say solar activity will reach your location within two hours!=^=

"Acknowledge Tesla. Star is de-stablizing, new predicition indicates two hours until activity reaches our location." Mollay's hands start flying across his console. "Mollay to Commander Bertrand. We have a situation, the Tesla has just reported an extreme increase in solar activity and our time table has gone from twenty four hours too two hours. Waiting for orders sir."

Bertrand felt like he had only just closed his eyes when the message came through but rapidly passed from frustration to alarm. He let loose a stream of invective as he rolled quickly out of bed. Thankfully the computer decided none of those were meant to be transmitted.

=^= I'm on my way! Lt Mordin to the Bridge! =^=

=^= This is Mordin. I'm on the way. =^=

When Bertrand arrived he was still fastening his jacket and his normal disheveled look was amplified.

"Good work, ensign," he said in acknowledgement as he arrived. "Contact our away teams and alert them to the crisis. How many people still on the surface?"

Mollay ran through the team lists and reports "1,500 people still on the surface sir. However they all seem to be in scattered pockets. It's possible we can still get everyone out, but not likely"

The doors of the turbolift swished open a few minutes after her reply, and Valeria stepped onto the Bridge. It was a symbol of respect and courtesy, so she at least looked presentable when she arrived. While her outfit had considerably fewer buttons then Bertrand's, her normally well hidden hair pieces were easy to spot today. She took her spot behind the Science station. "What's our current status?" she asked, before she quietly mentioned an apology for her 'slightly poor presentation'.

Bertrand made a motion with his hand to show exactly how deep they were "in it".

"Valeria, Check the data we are getting from the Tesla. Something happened and we need to know if it is going to get worse. Double check their estimates, and then triple check them."

"I'm getting the latest solar activity reports now, though there's a far greater degree of interference this time. I'll have to request two or three copies to produce a single viable model." a pause as she compiled the requested scans into one viable set of numbers, then she fed them to the calculation engine.

The look on her face said it all. "The stellar degeneration has begun to cascade. It's a self-sustaining reaction, pulling high-mass stellar material in from deeper layers to..." she paused, remembering Bertrand's one single request. "You motioned to your ears, indicating how deep we were? We've moved from the upper edge of your ears... to mine."

"I'm running another scan of the results, on the chance of poor scanner fidelity due to increased stellar activity, but if these numbers are even a fraction of proper we're looking to reset to T minus one hundred and twenty six minutes." for such a dreadful proclamation, she handled it well.

"Ensign Mollay, we are going to adjust our extraction strategy. Our people are the most highly trained so they have the best chance of surviving the longest with their charges while we extract the more vulnerable. I need you to broadcast a message to our teams to alert them to the danger and the delay in pickup."

"We have," Bertrand checked his lists on a display, "three teams in the Central City; one in the admin building, one at the hospital, and one at the starport. We also have Cor's team out at that fishing village. Everyone else is back on board or still running shuttles."

Mollay nods and begins to open up all channels to away teams. "Acknowledged. Attention all remaining away teams, we have an emergency situation. The solar event has radically shifted and the time table has shifted from twenty four too two hours, I repeat two hours. We are re-prioritizing pick ups. Again, the time table has become two hours and we a re-prioritizing pick ups. Please Acknowledge"

=^= This is Cordale. Asknowledge, two hour time table. No longer twenty four. Will prioritize transport of remaining injured and infirm. Cordale out. =^=

=^= Confirmed victory =^= came Selar's response.

=^="Acknowledged Victory! What are the changes??" =^= Antos asked.

"The infirm and families with children will be given priority."

"Take us to Yellow Alert!" Bertrand called.

Felix entered the Bridge. "Commander Cuprum, Security and Medical Personnel are dealing with the influx of Refugees as we speak, so I am reporting to the Tactical Station." The Orion said with a nod towards the acting Captain.

Cuprum returned the nod, stepping away from his usual station and returning, uncomfortably to the centre of the bridge.

Mollay kept his eyes on his console, monitoring the progress of the evacuation. "Commander, if I may make a suggestion? On the off chance that something else happens may I recommend making emergency supply packages to send down to the planet. We can use emptied out torpedoes so we don't send any more crew out, and we can modify launch speeds so ground impacts won't be traumatic to the people or supplies."

"I like your thinking," Cuprum nodded, "though the execution may be difficult. How long will it take you to prepare a 'relief package'?"

"If we use the spare empty torpedo cases, we could get one for every group left ready in 15 minutes, loaded in 25"

"Get on it. But I want to be out of here in an hour, so only as many as will be helpful."

Mollay rushes to start work on the supply missiles.
T - 90 minutes.

The crew were on edge now, systems running hot ahead of the new estimated deadline. Bertrand was pacing again which was not helping anyone else's concentration.

Then the comms officer spoke up, "Sir, we have a new distress signal."

"Add it to the list," Bertrand ground his teeth.

"It's not from the planet, sir. It's from the Kellat orbital facility. Audio only."

Bertrand stopped striding and shot a glance at Valeria, "The resort? Put it through."

Above the sound of alarms a worried voice could be made out.

"This is Kellat resort to any ships in the area, we have suffered a critical systems failure with our gravity drives. We are losing orbital stability and cannot use our escape modules. To any ships, please help. We predict catastrophic system failure in four hours..."

There was a sound of an explosion and then the voice came back somewhat more resigned to its fate, "Make that one hour."

Bertrand stood routed to the spot, his face still but his mind afire.

"How many still on the planet?"

"At last count, including away teams, less than one thousand."

"And there are around 2000 people on that station," Bertrand breathed deeply. He closed his eyes for a moment and then stood straight, speaking in a clear voice.

"Starfleet directives are clear on the matter. Priority must be given to the situation pertaining to the greatest loss of life and resource."

Bertrand went and sat in the Captains chair. It was the first time he had done so, and no clearer signal could have been given of his intent.

"Mollay, deploy your packages."

Mollay sent the containers. They consisted a varied amount of items, power cells, emergency rations, thermal blankets, parts to reinforce shelters and tools, both advanced and very basic tools that require no power. They also contained a note wishing them luck and god's speed. Considering the size of the torpedos there is enough rations for about a month, however they taste rather bland and are more like food bars then real food.

"Valeria, contact the away teams and inform them that we are pulling out, but we will provide them with what final supplies we can."

Valeria gave Bertrand a nod, before turning on the mass comm array, "Attention away teams. This is the Victory. We are being temporarily called away to assist with another emergency. You will be receiving additional supplies delivered via orbital drop. This will be the final communication prior to our return."

She turned the comm array off, then turned to face Bertrand. There wasn't sorrow or anger in her features. Simply duty being done. "Message sent sir. I'll monitor for replies prior to our relocation."

It was a nice thought, Bertrand considered, but he knew, as Valeria must, that there would be no return. The trip to Kellat was only about 20 minutes, but the evacuation would take about an hour. By that time the irradiation of the planet below would have begun. Even if they managed the return trip, they would have no space left in their hold to extract anyone.

"Felix, contact the USS Tesla and inform them of our withdrawl."

The Warrant Officer nodded and began imputing the commands into his console, "Tesla has been alerted Commander."

"Helm, set course for the Kellat system. Maximum warp."

"Sir," the helm ensign hazarded carefully, "If we leave the people on the surface the solar storm will kill them."

"Thank you, Ensign," Bertrand responded. "I am aware. Which is just as well, because if the Captain had survived putting me in command I would be honour bound to kill him for doing so. Let's go save some lives."