PNPC Captain Serena-Marie Wallace - Was it worth it?

[Serala]

This is our first insight into the situation on the USS Aldrin as told from one of the crew, namely the Captain. It's an amazing piece of writing and I wanted to give a shout out to @Esa_Darkkdust for writing it so well. Great job!

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((Jefferies Tube Seven-Alpha, Deck Four, USS Aldrin))

The Jeffries tube echoed as Serena-Marie pulled the small make-shift sled behind her, the sound of metal scraping against metal had been a constant as she’d moved around the ship trying to make whatever repairs she could. The last ten days had been actual hell. Of the fifteen people she’d volunteered to come with her, only eight were left. Seven had succumbed to the madness of the Cloud and had lost their lives. One of them she’d ended herself. She called it self-preservation, but the moment still played out in her mind. Over, and over, and over, and over.

She’d been on the bridge with one of the junior officers who worked as a helmsman on one of the late shifts. A good man. Solid worker. He’d managed to pilot the Aldrin far enough away from that station so that they could attempt repairs… Then that crazed Vulcan scientist had snuck their way in and murdered him. Plunged a sharpened piece of duranium into his back before he could react. Then they came for her… Their strength was enough to knock Serena-Marie to the ground, and the two of them subsequently engaged in a struggle. Through some… sheer dumb luck… she’d managed to grab a piece of debris that had fallen from the ceiling and cracked it against the side of the Vulcan’s head, who proceeded to fall down like a sack of lead on top of her.

She thought she’d made the right decision, saving the ship and the majority of the crew. She had to assume they were safe. Her First Officer would take care of them…

oO Right? Oo

Now she was second guessing herself. Seven dead… That left herself, the Operations Chief, two Scientists and four Engineers. She didn’t even know if the others were alive. Internal sensors were temperamental at best, and communications were still down. She had left Lieutenant JG Tenaya and three other engineers down in Engineering behind a forcefield, but that was several hours ago. Hopefully they were still there. She and Ensign Bradshaw were on their way to the bridge. Lieutenant Moore had gone to the Science deck with the other scientist, from the Lighthouse, attempting to clear the gaseous soup that still infested the lower decks so that they could get to the shield emitters…

She and Moore hadn’t exactly seen eye to eye over the last ten days. Deep down, she blamed him for the whole situation. From her point of view, if he had just listened to her and secured the research before they’d arrived at Outpost Ceti, then they wouldn’t be in this mess.

At last, they reached the ladder.

Wallace: Still alive back there, Bradshaw?

Bradshaw: ::Breathlessly:: Yes… Captain.

Wallace: Nearly there now, Ensign. Just four decks up and we’ll be on Deck One. We can take a break then.

She turned at the last moment to see the Ensign nodding, before gathering up the small sled full of tools in one arm and pushing it up the ladder.

((Bridge, Deck One))

A few minutes of climbing later, and the pair emerged into a tube that led to the side of the bridge, just next to the Engineering station. In the distance, she thought she could hear voices? As they got closer, she was more and more sure of that.

Unknown: Do we have a crew and body count yet? And any indication for the whereabouts of any crew who may not be accounted for?

Body count? They must have found the body of the Helmsman…

A few more voices chimed in, before the first voice spoke again.

Unknown: Do the logs have anything to say on that?

They were accessing the logs… Raiders? Pirates? Were they after the rest of the crew?

Serena-Marie waved her hand at Bradshaw to stay back, as she pulled her phaser from her hip. She switched the SIMs beacon on her wrist on, but kept it pressed against her body while she slowly and quietly opened the hatch onto the bridge. When it was opened enough for her to poke the barrel of her phaser and the beacon through, she called out loudly.

Wallace: Identify yourselves!

She hoped that the darkness, coupled with the bright light from her beacon aimed at their eyes, would be enough to dazzle them slightly, giving her an advantage if they started shooting.

Wallace: If you’re here to scavenge, I warn you: This phaser is set to kill!

Away team: Responses

Serena-Marie scoffed, audibly enough to show her disbelief to the intruders.

Wallace: Oh yeah? Prove it! There’s no way Starfleet would send another ship out here to die!

Away team: Responses

 

PNPC Captain Serena-Marie Wallace, PhD

USS Aldrin

Simmed by:

Lieutenant Commander Esa Kiax

Chief Operations Officer

USS Astraeus – NCC 70652

A239511ED0