The Hand of Fate – One – DizzyDrea

Today is Monday, though it’s hard to tell that in space. Each day bleeds into the next until you’re never sure if it’s January or July. And because of the way shifts are managed, not everyone gets weekends off. It makes keeping the crew’s energy up a difficult—but not impossible—task. Enterprise has been in space for nearly two years, and while crew morale is always a concern, I’ve found ways to challenge and entertain the crew, though most of them wouldn’t see it as entertainment. This week, we’ve been working on disaster drills. While Enterprise’s scores are the best in the fleet, as befits the flagship of the fleet, we still have to work to keep those scores at the top of the heap.

And personally, it keeps my mind busy, so that I can’t dwell on things I can’t change.

~0~

Alpha shift had only been on the bridge for an hour when the grey ennui of a Monday morning was broken by the blaring of the Red Alert alarms at the same moment that the ship… wobbled a bit and then righted itself.

All conversation stopped for a heartbeat as the bridge crew stared at each other, no one sure exactly what had just happened.

“Mr. Spock, report,” Captain Christopher Pike barked out as he spun his chair around to stare at the back of his science officer’s head.

“Emergency bulkheads have been activated in Engineering, Captain,” Spock said as he turned to look at his captain. “I am showing the warp engines on the verge of redlining.”

Chris spun his chair around. “Erica, drop us out of warp.”

“Registering all stop, sir,” Lieutenant Ortega said after a few brief moments of work at her console.

The familiar sight of a ship at warp resolved into a vibrant starfield as the ship slowed and stopped dead in space. Well… not quite dead. Yet. He hoped.

He took a deep breath and pressed the internal comms button on his chair. “Bridge to Engineering. Pelia, report.”

There was static for a distressingly long moment, and then Pelia’s face appeared on the main screen. Chris very nearly sagged in his chair.

“Captain,” she said, looking a little the worse for wear. She had smudges on her cheeks, and her hair was in disarray. More than usual for her, anyway. “We’re mostly fine down here.”

“Mostly isn’t as reassuring as you think it is,” Chris said. He settled back in his seat, the urgency lessening now that it appeared that things weren’t as dire as he’d expected. “What happened?”

“Commander Chin-Riley was inspecting some recent repairs before she signed off on them,” Pelia said. “A baffle plate began to fail, so she ordered the evacuation of everyone in that compartment, slapped a forcefield on the rupturing plate, then exited the chamber before the emergency bulkhead slammed shut.”

“Jesus,” Chris said, rubbing a hand over his face. He knew he’d gone pale as soon as Pelia had said the words baffle plate , but no one seemed to notice. He’d deal with his shock and dismay later. Right now, his ship and his crew needed him, and he’d never willingly let them down. “Anyone hurt?”

“She wasn’t able to completely contain the failure, so there were some injuries,” Pelia said. “Commander Chin-Riley was the last one out of the compartment, and as soon as she exited, she collapsed. I activated the Emergency Medical Transporter, so she’s been beamed directly to Sickbay. The rest of the wounded were walking and able to report under their own steam.”

“Do you have any idea why that baffle plate failed?” he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Right now, no,” Pelia said. “It’s one that was only recently repaired, so there could have been a defect in the metal, or a fault in the installation. Or the repairs in that area damaged it somehow. There are too many possibilities for me to speculate right now.”

“Right,” Chris said. “I’m sure you planned to already, but I need you to investigate the failure and figure out what happened and why. Prepare a report, and I’ll file it with Fleet HQ as soon as I’ve read it. I’ll also need you to repair what you can so we can get underway as soon as possible. Keep me updated on your progress.”

“Yes, sir,” Pelia said.

Her image blinked out without even waiting for his dismissal, but that was part of her charm. Or, at least, that’s what he always told himself.

“Lieutenant Uhura,” Chris said as he turned in her direction. “Let Admiral April know what’s happened. I’ll forward him Pelia’s report as soon as I have it, but we have to assume that it’s possible this is a faulty part, which means the rest of the fleet could be at risk.”

“Aye, sir,” Uhura said. “I’ll include the internal sensor readings for his review.”

“Good thinking,” Chris said, smiling at her.

He got up and headed straight for Spock’s station. He leaned against the console, crossing his arms and ankles as he contemplated this thorny problem. “Anything on internal sensors to indicate when the problem started?”

“There were several anomalous readings from that area of Engineering, but nothing to indicate an imminent failure,” Spock said. “It would appear that the sensors weren’t installed properly during the last refit.”

“So, this problem could have been brewing for a while,” Chris said. “That’s not comforting at all.”

“Indeed not, sir,” Spock said. “With your permission, I will join Pelia and Lieutenant Scott in Engineering. Perhaps if we work together, we can ascertain the cause of the failure much faster.”

Spock’s expression said it all. He knew exactly what Chris’ future held, so he must have been thinking the same thing. “It’s interesting, isn’t it?” he said in a low voice. “The very same accident, but at a different time and place. I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Nor do I,” Spock said, equally as quietly. “Perhaps your fate is not written in stone as you once believed.”

“That’s the sort of thing that will give me a migraine if I think about it too much,” Chris muttered. “Permission granted, by the way. I want to know what the hell happened and why before we get underway. I expect we’ll be recalled, so be prepared for that.”

“Aye, sir,” Spock said. He secured his station, stood, and nodded at the captain before he left the bridge.

Chris returned to his chair. “Lieutenant Ortega, prepare a course for home. I have a feeling we’ll be recalled once we can get underway. Let’s factor in the condition of the warp engines and keep our speed as low as practicable.”

“Aye, sir,” Erica said. “At warp two, we should be able to make good time without stressing the engines, but I’ll verify that with Pelia before we get underway.”

“Good thinking,” Chris said. He turned to his Chief of Security, who’d been curiously silent. “La’an, thoughts?”

“We picked a good place for a breakdown, sir,” she said, quirking her eyebrow. “No hostiles within sensor range, and while we don’t have warp at the moment, I have a full complement of photon torpedoes, and the phasers are fully charged and at the ready, just in case.”

“Expecting trouble, Lieutenant?” Chris asked, smiling briefly.

“Expect the best, plan for the worst,” she said with a nod.

“Sound advice,” he said. He took a deep breath. The desire to run to Sickbay to check on Una was getting harder and harder to ignore, so he decided to stop trying. “You have the bridge, Lieutenant. I need to head to Sickbay to check on the wounded. Downgrade us to Yellow Alert, but keep the shields up and stay vigilant. We don’t know who might be out there, and we’re uniquely vulnerable right now.”

“Aye, sir,” she said as she stepped forward. “I’ll keep the place ship-shape until you return.”

Chris snorted. “With Commander Chin-Riley among the wounded, I’m going to need you to step up as my Number One until she’s back on her feet.”

“Yes, sir,” La’an said with a nod.

“Thank you, Number One,” he said. “Keep me apprised of any changes.”

He didn’t wait for her answer, just headed for the lift and let the doors close. He sagged back against the wall for a moment, searching for and utterly failing to find his calm center. Realizing that he wasn’t going to find it standing in a lift, he grabbed the handle and requested Deck Six. He honestly didn’t think he’d find anything like calm until he saw for himself that Una was okay.

~0~

Cast (from top right):
Anson Mount & Rebecca Romijn, Babs Olusanmokun, Jess Bush, Carol Kane, Christina Chong, Ethan Peck, Adrian Holmes