Three Seconds

Posted on Tue Feb 25th, 2025 @ 1:19am by Captain Björn Kodak

Mission: Seven Souls
Location: The Bridge
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 1743

[The Bridge]
[USS Sojourner]
[MD 1: 1743 Hours]

“Coming up now, sir,” Ensign Sohlare reported from the helm. The Trill’s deft hands — perhaps not as skilled as Chief Flight Controller Irynya’s but proficient all the same — calmly danced across his console. “Exiting warp in three, two, one…”

On the viewscreen, rainbow star lines flickered with pseudo-motion before collapsing back into pinpoint dots of light. Against the starry backdrop hung the fiery nebula the Sojourner had been hurtling towards, the small ship that’d been transmitting the general distress call cast against its crimson swirls. The small vessel’s running lights were dark and, given its slow tumble through the vacuum, it was clear the ship was not under any kind of propulsive power.

“Alright, let’s get a sense of what’s happening here and offer whatever aid we can,” Captain Kodak spoke up from the command chair, leaning forward to better peer at the small ship tumbling in the foreground of the view screen. “I know we’re still dealing with some issues from those things,” he referred to the globs of goo that had ransacked the ship only days prior, “but I have no doubt Sojo is up to the job.”

“What’ve we got on sensors?” Kodak asked, slipping into confident-captain mode, trusting his people to get the process rolling and rolling well.

Lieutenant JG S’lin looked up from the science console, long, symmetrically-pointed bangs framing her face neatly. “As expected, the interior of the nebula is unreadable. Thoron radiation levels are extreme,” the Vulcan noted, “and while the vessel has yet to pass into the nebula, its current close proximity is interfering with sensor resolution.”

“Understood,” the Chameloid Captain replied. “Mr. Sohlare, bring us within transporter range. Maybe that will improve sensors as well. Slow, though,” he eyed the ship set against its nebular background. “I don’t like that we can’t see inside that nebula,” he grumbled with worry.

Literally anything could be inside and they wouldn’t know. Unvoiced went the obvious thought everyone was thinking — this could well be a trap. It wouldn’t be the first time some nefarious force had used beings in peril as a honey pot to lure in unsuspecting do-gooders. But it could also just as easily be a real crew in real distress and the Sojourner was the only ship close enough to help. At least, close enough to respond before the derelict vessel disappeared into the nebula entirely…

Sohlare turned back to nod at the Captain before looking forward again, nimble fingers engaging the ship’s impulse engines. On the screen, the nebula and the ship began to grow closer as the Sojourner glided through space at one-quarter impulse.

“Mr. Nevek,” Kodak called back over his shoulder to the frowny-faced Andorian at tactical, “maintain yellow alert. Don’t drop our shields until I say so.” The grunt from behind was all the golden-eyed Chameloid needed to confirm the order had been acknowledged. “Any response to our hails?”

“Negative, sir,” Nevek replied, cerulean face aglow with the dim lights of the new LCARS system. His antennae waggled slowly with consternation as he reviewed the readings on his screen. “And while I’m detecting several distinct life signs now that we’re in-system, the radiation from the nebula’s still blocking more detailed sensor resolution. Can’t tell you who's over there yet. Samla?” he called out then, looking towards the front of the bridge.

“Working on it,” came the Bajoran operations officer’s reply. Samla’s face furrowed as she redirected power to the sensor arrays but, ultimately, power wasn’t the issue. “That stuff is just too thick to cut through. Sorry sir,” she turned to offer the Captain an apologetic look. Always one to bring a solution, though, she suggested, “Maybe if we towed it away from the nebula a bit?”

“Nevek?” Kodak asked, giving Samla an encouraging look before turning to look back at the Andorian. He, of course, was hoping for confirmation that the nebula’s radiation wouldn’t scatter the tractor beam and its effects.

“Should be doable, sir,” the Andorian nodded in response. “Once that ship is further away from the nebula, we should be able to get a better read on it before sending Commander t’Nai and her team over there.”

“Alright then,” Kodak leaned back in his chair, “helm, take us into tractor range. Tactical, establish the beam when ready. Let’s tow that ship the minimum distance needed for sensors to get a read. Bridge to t’Nai,” he said then, reaching up to tap at the badge hanging on his chest, “sit tight for now, Commander. It may be a few minutes until we can make sure that ship is safe to beam over to.”

”Understood Captain,” came the calm, cool, and clipped reply from the half-Romulan XO down in the transporter room. ”My team’s assembled on the transporter pad and ready to go when you are.” She’d pulled Irynya, Cross, Maritz, and F’Rar to accompany her to the derelict vessel, which explained their absence from the bridge.

“Acknowledged Commander,” Kodak nodded. On the viewscreen, he watched as the Sojo’s glowing blue tractor beam reached across space to ensnare the slowly-tumbling ship. It only took a few moments of externally-applied torque to right the vessel’s orientation and bring its motion towards the nebula to a halt.

“Backing us away,” Sohlare spoke up again, furtively activating his controls and moving the Sojo back along its forward axis, reversing the much larger ship’s motion. Along with the smaller ship, both vessels were now moving away from the nebula at a steady clip. “Try now,” the Trill said over his shoulder, the suggestion’s intended recipient the Andorian at tactical.

“That’s got it,” Nevek nodded quickly. “Now reading six Talaxian life signs. All appear to be in critical condition, sir,” he reported out to Kodak. “Reading life support failure and gas venting all over that ship. Also still getting some holdover radiation from the nebula.” A realization hit, which caused the man’s antennae to almost curl with frustration.

“Sir, given that radiation, I can transport the XO’s team to a clear area but they’ll need to drag those people out of the irradiated parts of the ship in order to beam them out,” the Andorian explained.

“Commander?” Kodak spoke into the still-open channel, hoping t’Nai had caught Nevek’s report.

”Understood bridge,” t’Nai commented back. ”Chief F’Rar packed a few sets of pattern enhancers. If we can’t move the Talaxians for some reason, we’ll give those a shot as well.”

“Tell the Chief I admire her proactive thinking,” Kodak smirked ever so slightly. He liked F’Rar quite a bit and this wasn’t the first time her forward thinking had prepped them for unlikely but — given their usual lack of luck — entirely-still-possible eventualities.

”Will do,” t’Nai’s half-smile was audible over the comm. ”We’ll transport on your mark.”

“Alright then,” the Chameloid folded his arms over his chest, leaning against his seat-back as he envisioned Emni and the others unconsciously stiffening their posture in preparation for transport, “drop shields and energize. Here we go,” he rasped.

“Lowering shields,” Nevek verbalized in real time. Floating above his console, the glowing wireframe view of the Sojourner collapsed its dotted-line protective shield bubble. “Initiating trans—“

Before he could finish the sentence — much less signal the transporter room to actually energize the transporter — Nevek cried out in alarm. “Detecting a ship coming from the nebula! Raising shields!” he bleated, fingers blurring over his controls as he spoke. Just another few taps and the shield bubble would spring back into place…

But it was too late. Those three seconds the shields had been down were all that other ship needed. Gliding out of the nebula with disruptors firing, bolts of azure energy pummeled the exposed hull of the Sojourner. Sans shields, the ship’s armored plates were all that stood between the vacuum of space and the cozy innards of the Starfleet vessel — plates that yielded too easily to whoever was firing at them.

As precisely-targeted disruptor fire struck the Sojourner’s hull, the bridge positively exploded around Kodak. They’d clearly been aimed at the bridge itself but Sohlare’s quick response at the helm had turned them slightly. Instead of the bridge bubble taking the full brunt of the attack, the disruptors splayed across the surrounding saucer instead, causing chain-reaction overloads that fed into the bridge, blowing out power relays in the ceiling and walls.

So it'd been a trap after all. You ‘Draysh. Always trying to be the hero. Where does it get you, hmm? The mop-headed version of Timmoz that lived in Kodak’s mind defiantly thrust his chin upward, chiding him from whatever part of the Chameloid’s soul held the Orion close. Picking himself up from the deck — where the initial explosions had thrown him — Kodak could almost smell the former helmsman’s musk as he settled back into his chair, melancholy further sliding into his heart.

The other bridge officers were doing the same, brushing away fried-up insulation foam that rained down from the ceiling in what looked like pieces of cooked rocks. As consoles were cleared off and screens reactivated, the crew tried to gain a sense of their current condition.

As they did, vague shapes swam on the viewscreen as Kodak’s vision tried to stabilize. He could sort of make out the nebula but the throbbing in his head further clouded his ability to distinctly see much beyond that before the next blinding flash was suddenly flying at them. With Sohlare engaging evasive maneuvers of his own keen initiative, though, the damage was spread out across the length of the Sojo’s hull rather than concentrated — again — on the bridge itself. Whoever the hell was targeting them was apparently determined to wipe out the command staff specifically.

“Report!” Kodak roared as his officers worked to assess system status and casualties. Looking ahead, Kodak’s vision had finally cleared but the viewscreen was now completely dark. The second blast had apparently knocked it out, meaning they could only rely on sensors to identify whoever the hell was attacking them.

“Shields are unresponsive,” Nevek hurriedly spat out. “Weapons and external sensors are gone, too. Parsons reports damage control teams are en route. Still waiting on casualty reports. Dr. Wang is in his hibernation cocoon but Dr. Marwol's in charge down there. No word from him yet.”

A third barrage suddenly staccato’d against the Sojourner then, causing the deck beneath Nevek’s feet to shudder hard — harder than he’d ever felt it shake before. He continued to flick through reports and then slammed his fist against his console with the rage that had been building over the last couple of minutes.

“All key systems save engines have now been affected. They knew right where to hit us,” the Andorian hissed through clenched teeth, his forehead heavily bleeding. A pool of dark blue ichor spread through the spiderweb of cracks that had formed on the face of his computer interface — a consequence of his forehead slamming against the display only moments prior.

“Reading multiple transporter signals!” Samla called out from ops. Internal sensors, it seemed, were still functional. There was that at least… “They — they’re Kazon, sir! Reading ten of them, split between the primary and secondary computer cores and…main engineering!” With F’Rar down in the transporter room — at last report, anyway — and only Parsons and some junior engineers down in the engine room, deep worry further crinkled her nose.

“Security teams dispatched,” Nevek reported, acting in his dual capacity as on-duty tactical and security chief. “Engineering is reporting that the boarders directly targeted the impulse manifolds. Sir…we’re dead in the water,” the Andorian sighed, his stomach plummeting at least 30,000 kilometers. He wanted to be down there right now phasering every Kazon he could find but had to hope his security teams would get there soon enough to prevent loss of life.

Before Kodak could reply, further beeps of alarm sounded as the Bajoran at ops rapidly sifted through additional screens, Samla shaking her head as more and more information rolled in. “Sir! Seven people were just beamed off the ship! I-I think they were beamed over to that ship out there,” her brow furrow was so deep it might well have been a craggy gorge.

“Main viewer restored,” S’lin suddenly but calmly broke in. With no external sensors, she’d had little to do and had focused, instead, on restoring power to the viewscreen. Quiet settled onto the bridge as the disruptor fire from their attacker ceased and all eyes turned to see who’d been responsible for this vicious ambush.

Reflected in Kodak’s golden eyes was confirmation of what they’d all feared would be coming in the weeks since Hukatuse Tagumik; in the months since first meeting Kaldri on the fourth moon of Shaddam. The Kordra-Lisrit — the inexplicably advanced warship captained by First Maje Subrek — had finally caught up with them.

And in the fires of that wretched thoron nebula, they’d apparently laid their trap knowing Starfleet captains would not — could not — ignore distress signals in the dark. Had there even been any critical-condition Talaxians aboard the bait ship? Kodak didn’t know. But as he watched the Kordra-Lisrit slowly turn about and head back into the nebula, he knew this was all his fault. All of it. Every single second of it. Because he had given the order to try mounting a rescue.

And as the next words spilled from Nevek’s azure lips in seemingly slow motion, Kodak’s folly was, in that moment, fully realized:

“Sir, the Kazon have vanished into the nebula. And they took…” the Andorian’s voice seemed to get even slower, “they took Cross, Irynya, Maritz, Balsam, Ratthi, Kaldri and…Munro.” The last name was uttered like a death proclamation.

The Captain’s own partner — the man who’d given up his peaceful civilian life on Risa as an oceanic biologist to come to the Delta Quadrant with Kodak — was gone. As were six other people, the Chameloid reminded himself, trying to reorient his mind back on the reality and logistics needed to navigate the crisis they currently faced. But as the Captain opened his mouth to try issuing orders he couldn’t even begin to mentally string together, relief arrived.

Commander t’Nai had apparently made her way to the upper decks, entering the charred envelope of the bridge. Seeing Kodak kneeling on the floor — bleeding from his head and visibly dazed, mouth moving as if to speak but no sound coming out — she moved to the center of the command vestibule and began issuing orders to secure the ship from the Kazon boarding party and begin repair efforts in earnest.

She then produced a med kit from somewhere and moved to start treating the Captain, kneeling down at his side as her training as a former chief medical officer kicked in. t’Nai’s tricorder flashed and beeped as it registered the concussion and contusion affecting Kodak but it was the waves of raw emotion radiating off the man that concerned her most.

Empathic senses flaring, she had to tamp them down as much as possible just to get through sealing up the Chameloid’s head wound. But as Emni removed the dermal regenerator and tried to talk to Kodak, tears began to flow from golden eyes that had never before looked so hollow.

“They took him,” Björn stared back at his half-Romulan friend. “They took them all…” he rasped into the ether of the nebula’s wreathing flames on the viewscreen. He was quiet a few moments before shaking his head. “No. He took them. Subrek,” he named the Kazon warlord, the moniker hissing from his mouth like hammered-steel plunged into cold water. “But we’ll get them back,” the Chameloid promised, shakily rising to his feet with the XO’s help.

Emni could feel the man return to himself then. Not as whole or as hearty as she was used to feeling him but himself nonetheless. But even as Kodak retook command and began to coordinate things once again, she worried for him. She worried for them all, of course — especially the seven souls who’d been taken from them — but it was for Kodak, now, that she could do the most good.

“Counselor Qo to the bridge,” t’Nai muttered very, very quietly, the hand that had instinctively gone to her combadge falling away with finality. She did not summon the counselor on the Captain’s behalf lightly but it was the right call.

And as the bridge crew looked to her to confirm all the orders the Captain was now issuing, Emni tried to project confidence as she nodded back at them in support of their commanding officer’s ability to lead even in personal crisis. This wasn’t the time to doubt their leadership. Not with a boarding party wrecking the ship, all the main systems down, and seven people missing.

Now was the time to buckle down and double down. Emni just hoped that Kodak — with a little help from Qo — could work through his personal feelings and respond as a proper Starfleet captain rather than a bereaved lover...

[One hour later]

The Kazon boarders had done a number on the ship. With their direct acts of sabotage, they’d pretty heavily damaged the impulse engines and it would take a day or more according to Assistant Chief Parsons — filling in for F'Rar, who'd been critically wounded on her way to the engine room -- to repair them. And while the Kazon had apparently tried to cripple the ship further by wrecking the primary and secondary computer cores, they’d been repelled before they could do so. Only it’d taken phasers set to kill to stop them…

Apparently the warriors’ armor had been infused with a certain phaser-resistant dust from Shaddam IV — the same dust whose properties Doctor Wang and Ensign Ratthi had been researching as of late. And in setting phasers to kill, the blasts were strong enough to overcome the armor but also resulted in frying the nervous systems of all the Kazon save one.

A single warrior was now in critical condition down in Sickbay. Whether he could be saved was unknown but Doctor Marwol — acting in Wangs’ stead given his uninterruptible cocoon hibernation cycle — had his work cut out for him to do so. And if he could be saved, perhaps Lt. Delja, the Sojo’s new First Contact Specialist, could use skills negotiating with little-known-about-races to help solicit vital information about Subrek’s next steps from the warrior. Kodak and t’Nai hoped the Kazon might know where the Kordra-Lisrit was headed next so they might catch up and get their people back.

While the Sojo nursed its wounds and while its Captain faced the fall out of his decisions under Counselor Qo’s ministrations, the crew had a tremendous amount of work ahead of them to get the ship back in functional form, especially having already been reeling from the effects of the — as the crew had so-named them — Goo Babies and their impacts on core computer functionality.

But even if — when — the Sojo was back up and ready to fight, they first had to find Subrek and his ship. There’d been no sign of it on what limited sensors had been restored but there had to be a trail of some kind to follow. Seven souls depended on it. They could only hope that Subrek didn’t have murder on the mind. Given his resort to kidnapping, however, there was a chance that this was all some kind of revenge plot against Kaldri, no doubt borne of their mutual hatred for each other.

Kodak could question his decision to bring her aboard and help the Kazon — who’d once helped them — all he wanted but, at the end of the day, he was Starfleet. And Starfleet helped people where and when they needed it. The Captain just hoped that in helping the Kazon woman, he hadn’t damned Andrew and the others to life as slaves or, worse, torture and death.

They would find out soon enough, though…


=/\= A post by ... =/\=

Captain Björn Kodak
Commanding Officer
USS Sojourner

Commander Emni t'Nai
Executive Officer
USS Sojourner