A Way Home

Posted on Tue Jul 1st, 2025 @ 11:28pm by Commander Kelly Kerrigan & Lieutenant JG Zai Walker

1,020 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Stars Around the Well
Location: Main Engineering | USS Arcadia
Timeline: Current

ON:

Zai scrubbed a hand down his face. "Okay. Run the scenario one more time."

Ensign George sighed. "We've already run..."

"Again!" He was missing Sab, worried, and fed up. He had no time for coddling the engineers.

"Yes sir."

The hour they'd already repeated five times ran again. At the end of that hour, the results started filtering in. Zai studied them, doing calculation after calculation, and then smiled. "We've got a solution, people, but we have to work fast. Start priming the engines. Henderson, Davis, Stokor I want you on the deflector shields. Peterson, Alagarali, and Ktorath on shields. I want that reversal switch ready in three hours. Pull any of the staff you all need to make it happen."

He picked up a toolkit. "I'm heading to recalibrate the thrusters to give us what we need and the photon torpedo that will give us that last push." Then he was going to talk to the captain. They had a way out, but they needed their crew back, and it was going to be tight.


{ One Hour Later }

Zai pulled the various rods and wires. He had to rewire part of the thruster booster and that was delicate work. He was used to it. He worked fast but he worked with extreme caution. They would need everything to go right if they were to escape this.

Wires were cut and reconnected. Chips and rods replaced or moved in order. It took a good two hours before he closed the panel and made his way through the j-tubes to the torpedo bay. He would need one torpedo to give them a boost. That meant removing what was harmful but leaving enough power to give them that boost. It would, in the end, blow their shields, but they could think about that when they were on the other side of the space hole.

He was exhausted, hungry, and so worried about Sab that he couldn't even stop to breathe. He kept his attention on what he was doing just to escape his mind, to stop thinking.

Five hours later, he was done, and he checked in with engineering. This team was motivated, and they were working away; those who tired stepped away to be replaced by fresher engineers. He would take his entire department out to lunch once this was done. They deserved it.

He had sent the captain a message that he needed to talk to him urgently and he debated doing that until after he'd showered and changed. He wasn't a pleasant sight, nor was he a pleasant smell, but time was of the essence.

He checked the computer and saw that the Captain's bio signature was showing that he was in the ready room. Zai headed to the nearest turbo lift, grabbed the handle, and spoke. "Bridge."

The lift hummed and whirled as it moved up towards the top of the ship.

The trip itself wasn't long but it felt like ages. The doors opened to the bridge and he hurried down the walkway towards the ready room. Zai chimed on the door and waited.

Kerrigan reached for a control option to trigger the door to open. "Zai," Kelly Kerrigan said addressing the man. He noticed the uniform had seen better days.

Entering Zai wiped his forehead. His uniform was filthy and he looked like he'd been run over by a shuttle. "Captain we have a way home."

"Zai, you may have just boosted morale tenfold" replied Kerrigan. "What do you have? We need to get out of this sinkhole."

"Short of it is we need to use the deflector array like a suppository and the shields have to be turned out from the ship to get us through. We'll need to use the thrusters and a torpedo to get us momentum and...there is bad news."

"That sounds like a clever plan, but what is it?" He was ready for the downturn.

"The space butt hole is shrinking." He sighed. "Science confirmed it we have three hours to make our escape."

Subspace sinkhole thought Kelly, but this space orifice had gained a plethora of slang terms from the crew. More were sprouting each passing day and some were less tame than others. "Then we need to make our escape immediately. How soon can we prepare systems for a departure attempt?"

"I started them while science was still calculating. We'll be ready to head out in fifteen minutes we just need our shuttle and crew back. I've taken the liberty of checking with Coms, they are on the way back, but we'll have to leave before they reach us. We will have to tractor them in just before we enter the um...space hole."

"That sounds a bit dangerous" replied Kerrigan. "The Arcadia was lucky to get through the sinkhole in one piece. I do not believe a shuttle could handle that?"

"They can't. We'll meet them about five minutes from the hole, and I'll have to tractor them in, or we could head their way, it would still be faster than us heading to the hole at a slower pace."

"Alright. I believe we have a plan, and if you are confident in possible success, it's worth a shot. We cannot afford for it to close without trying to escape."

Zai gave a nod. He swayed on his feet stumbling and grabbing the desk for balance.

"Zai," Kerrigan said and reached out towards him.

Zai held up his hand. "I'm alright. Sabastian was injured and I'm feeling that through our bond. The away team, according to coms, encountered several setbacks."

"Injured...but alive?"

"Yes. Burns to the back, a hit to the head from what I understand. They also had a stowaway from a ship civilian."

Kelly was relieved yet still concerned. "I look forward to their report."

Zai straightened. "I should go let nav know to move the ship towards the shuttle. It will be tight but we'll make it. My department is ready, but we will lose power, and we should prepare for a rough ride."

Kelly Kerrigan nodded. "Let's get to work."

OFF:

 

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