Through The Portal

Posted on Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 @ 8:34am by Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Commander Anthony Davis & Commander Sakkath & Commander Patrick Leroy & Lieutenant Ito Tsuki & Lieutenant Norval Tigan & Ensign Reva Madhava & Ensign Ian Bren

Mission: The Struggle Within
Location: SB900

The bridge was a space of concentrated attention. Everyone knew what was riding on them getting things exactly right. There was no room for error. But all an outside observer would have seen would be a roomful of Starfleet personnel going about their jobs.

And that's the way it should be, Ito thought to herself as she simultaneously kept her eyes on the helm console in front of her and the main viewscreen, which currently was showing a tactical display of the region around the wormhole. Engineering had sent her a timeline of what vectors and thrusts would be needed at what time. The initial buildup of speed was slow, which would allow them to do the final calibrations of the emitters. Not to mention all the energy that would be flung from the other ships.

She sighed mentally to herself even as her eyes did another sweep. She'd mentioned it anyway. She must be getting nervous. Then a soft chime caught her attention.

"Captain, we have reached checkpoint one."

"Very well," Anthony said with a nod.

"Acknowledged, helm," came Riley's reply over the comm. "Commanders, Lt. Tigan, when we reach the threshold, shields will go up in preparation for the power surge. "

"I've got emergency power available to reinforce them," Norval reported from Ops. "Engineering, see if you can't get me a little extra for the inertial dampers." On the one hand, he wanted the crossing to be smooth for everyone. On the other, Tigan was doing somersaults in his stomach, reminding him that Darius had died in a shuttle accident and that turbulence tended to make him more than a little queasy.

"The Hammond's systems are ready, folks. Lt. Tigan, you'll have as much for those dampers as we can give you," Reva spoke up from Engineering. "'Base, on your mark."

=^= Maintain contact as long as possible, =^= Sakkath advised from 900. =^= And to all of your crew, Commander Davis... the hope of us all travels with you. =^=

"Fair wind and following seas, Commander," Anthony said in a shift but meaningful reply. "Comm, do what you can to get this channel going. Once we hit the other side be will be alone long enough."

* * *

Riley felt as if he needed to look everywhere at once. On one monitor was the entrance to the wormhole, on several others the ships that had gathered around them were visible, and on the rest a continual stream of readouts regarding shields, energy readings, calculations....never ending. And they'd reached checkpoint one and had moved on into position just at the edge of the wormhole. Now it was the point of no return.

Ensign Bren was in the Hammond's science bay, probably doing the same thing Riley was with all the monitors now. "Ian, it's time," Riley informed him over the open channel.

"Got it!" Ian crowed back at Riley, not taking any attention from the calculations and readings running across his console screens.

"Commander Leroy, we are ready to proceed. " Riley did a little mental finger crossing. "At checkpoint two and holding. The beam is ready to fire."

One by one on the monitor of the C&C Science station lines appeared as the ships involved in the operation gave their go.

“We are ready, Commander,” Leroy nodded to Sakkath checking a last time on the terminal.

“Proceed.” Sakkath urged.

From the Starbase a thin golden beam projected from the emitter to the first ship and then the second, the third… Finding its way all along the numerous waypoints until it reached the Hammond.

"Energy readings at sixty percent," Riley reported. "Maximum in ten seconds. Ensign Bren, once they reach full, report in, then we'll fire up the beam."

The seconds ticked by, all-too-slowly as well as all-too-quickly. "Three... two... one...," Ian counted then announced, "Energy readings at max."

"Initiating beam now," Reva reported as she entered the final command.

The wormhole halo became visible as the chronitons swept the region in front of the starship, a faint bluish light coalescing from nowhere and becoming larger by the second.

“The portal is opening” Leroy stated working on the console “It should be large enough to allow passage within the minute”

"Continuing to monitor power levels," Sakkath advised from his station. Even as acting CO, he wasn't about to relinquish Ops to another officer, not for an undertaking of this magnitude. "Estimate forty-two seconds to passable boundary on my mark." He paused for only a moment, waiting for the timer to match his calculation after allowing for time to speak. "Mark."

=^= Forty-two seconds, aye, =^= came Norval's reply, even as he ensured they still had enough power to make the impulse transit in addition to shields, inertial dampers and the chroniton production of the Hammond itself.

Sweat started to pearl Patrick’s forehead as the status messages from the various ships involved started to flow through the terminals of Science and Ops “The starship's dilithium crystals are under heavy strain.” He said even if somewhat superfluous for he knew that Sakkath was seeing that same data on his screen “The USS Nakhimov seem to be taking the brunt of it.” Patrick added seeing the name of the ship flashing on the terminal.

“A bit longer…” Leroy muttered to himself feverishly typing commands issuing corrections to the scientists onboard the small fleet “…Almost…”

Then the magic vanished suddenly as the distress call came through the communicators:

=^= Captain Westmoreland of USS Nakhimov here. Two crystals have burned out and the remaining ones are soon to follow. I’m sorry this ol’lady can’t take it any longer. I have to break formation. =^=

It was fortuitous that Sakkath was a Vulcan because there was no judgment in his voice, no sense of hopelessness to creep into his tone. "Acknowledged, Nakhimov, pull back. Establish standard orbit around the starbase and await assistance from damage control." The Commander turned his emerald eyes towards Patrick. "How do you wish to proceed, Mister Leroy?"

Patrick’s shoulders sagged “We can redirect the beam to the closest ship I’m not sure if we can keep the portal open though. The ships gathered were few from the start and with one less there will be a significant loss of power.”

Before Sakkath could respond to the new turn of events an ensign from Communication addressed him.

“A starship has just warped in SB900 proximity… Seem to be Divitian by engines signature, sir. It’s the Nightsong…They’re hailing us.”

Sakkath raised a brow in curiosity. "Indeed? Continue with the Operation as Lieutenant Commander Leroy dictates. On screen." Facing the main viewer, the Vulcan draped his hands behind his back, regarding the image that materialized there.

A well-known Divitian figure, clad in a dark indigo silken robe, appeared on the screen and delivered his greetings:

=^= May the stars watch your path Commander Sakkath. It seems we’ve come right in the nick of time. =^=

"Peace and long life to you, Speaker Zee'Hrai," Sakkath replied in the tradition of his own people, lifting his hand in the ta'al. "Though I believe this may not be the best of times for us to receive a diplomatic envoy."

=^= I’m the Speaker of Divitians no more, Commander. That part of my life is concluded, albeit not as I would have liked. Let’s say that I’m here on a personal basis, I set my ship and retinue in motion as soon as I came to know of your predicament about the loss of Admiral Wegener and Commander Hawke. I did not forget Federation commitment in the moment of our need and the personal dedication of all of you. We’ve come… How would you say? ‘To lend a hand’. With your permission, that is. =^= Zee ‘Hrai ended with a slight nod of the head, his smile cryptic as a consummate diplomat he’d glossed over any detail about how he came to know of the current situation.

“They could fit in the center of the energy bridge. A ship of that size… Is an unexpected gift.” Leroy advised.

Sakkath nodded to Patrick before turning back to their ally. "Permission granted. Words cannot express our gratitude, Captain," Sakkath said as he began to enter commands on his terminal, "and your timing is impeccable. I am forwarding coordinates and operational details to your vessel now. Please take up position as quickly as possible."

The Vulcan opened a channel to the fleet. "All vessels, maintain energy output and adjust position as indicated in the orders I am transmitting. Additional support is inbound. We are continuing to monitor your stress levels. 900 out."

Ito slowed the ship as it reached checkpoint three. Once the ship reached here they had about sixty seconds before the rip in time/space should be big enough to allow the Hammond to pass safely through. It was going to be tight, and timing was everything.

She heard the communications between the staff here and those on 900 helping to perform this feat of engineering and science, but she didn't let it detract from her attention to the course the ship was flying. At half-impulse now she had to weave a tight course between invisible - at least to the naked eye - forces that were now coming into play. The universe did not like having the natural course of things interrupted and was starting to let them know.

"Beginning to experience some turbulence," she said aloud to no one in particular. "Things are going to get rough!" Even as she made her statement the ship lurched bodily to port as it encountered the effects of the gravitational fluxes going on around them.

Anthony felt the lurch himself and held on to his chair, "All hands brace yourself and remain at your stations." Anthony's head was spinning over everything that was happening and he was trying his best to keep it straight. He knew they were just seconds from the crossing.

"We're on it," Riley reported, even as he held to the control panel before him. He watched as the Nightsong took up its position and moments later he gave a sigh of relief. "The energy bridge is complete once more. All hands, it's time. Ensign Madhava, fire when ready. Ensign Bren, I want a running report on the portal's opening."

"Here goes, Bren," Reva said over the comms as she played the bridge's accumulated energy out into the emptiness of space. As the ship's systems strained and they encountered that turbulence Ito had announced, the chroniton energy opened a rift; the more energy that poured into, the larger the rift grew.

"Twenty meters dilation," Ian Bren announced. As the seconds ticked by, he kept up the announcements, listing off the rift's growth in increments of ten. As the numbers got close to the Hammond's beam, his voice got more excited, "...hundred meters; we should be good to go!"

"Engines engaged," Reva answered. "Ito, she's yours to thread the needle!"

"Acknowledged," Ito replied. Her voice sounded as smooth as silk, a far cry from how she was really feeling. She keyed in the activation code to the navigation program that both she and the navigation specialist had gone over time and time again.

In response the Hammond took off like a startled rabbit, going from half-impulse to full impulse as quickly as she could. The turbulence, which had not been too bad so far, returned with a vengeance. The ship bounced around the sky, but was staying within the parameters that Engineering had specified.

Ito looked up to see the brilliant blue light of the wormhole filling the screen. 'At full impulse!" she stated loudly. "Entering the wormhole... now!"

The front section of the saucer was the first part of the Hammond to enter the wormhole. To the support ships watching the transition it appeared as if the saucer section started to stretch and become maulable, almost like putty. Inside there was no indication of that effect. But other effects were making themselves known.

Ito checked the inertial dampeners and saw that they were already at full power, yet it felt like the ship was going to shake herself apart. She checked their progress and grinned widely. It appeared to be working!

"We are halfway through, Captain! I am picking up spacial readings from the other side!"

"Confirm that," Riley answered via the comm. "Another forty-five seconds and we'll be through. Holding steady down here. Commander Sakkath, Commander Leroy...." Riley paused briefly. "We'll return as soon as we can."

"The portal is stable," Leroy stated looking at the data on the monitor "Thirty-nine seconds from now and you'll be on your own... Good luck to all of you."

Sakkath nodded along with Leroy, despite only having the audio link with the Hammond. He had already said his piece, wishing them luck, but he did latch on to Riley Sukotav's reply. "I shall hold you to that, Lieutenant," the Vulcan said, even as static consumed the channel and the vessel vanished from this plane.


************

Lt. Riley Sukotav
Ensign Reva Madhava
Ensign Ian Bren
Lieutenant Ito Tsuki
Lt Commander Patrick Leroy
Commander Sakkath
Lieutenant Norval Tigan
Commander Anthony Davis