Kobyashi Maru part Deux
Posted on Sat Nov 7th, 2020 @ 2:44pm by Lieutenant Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Captain Rhenora Kaylen
Mission:
Diplomatic Masquerade
Location: USS Liberty
Timeline: Curent
EEP! Bonnie immediately began to freak out a little bit. Sweat beads rose upon her forehead and within the pits of her arms. She turned in her chair and stood up, looking at the view screen. A Cardassian Warship was still poised to strike off the bow, two more flanking the Liberty. And she was now left to deal with them? What if they hailed her? What if they wanted to talk? Oh no, what if they fired weapons?
As she approached the Captain’s seat she tripped down the stair step. Who does that and why were there stairs on a bridge? Catching herself on the chair she immediately regretted serving on a ship that didn’t have a smooth ramp like the Galaxy Class vessels did. As she picked herself up she could feel all eyes looking yet trying not to look. There was only one trick for this situation. She cleared her throat and spoke clearly, “As you were.” The noise and the commotion quickly began again.Old tricks never die.
She slid into the oversized chair, using caution to not touch any of the controls for fear of causing anything to happen that shouldn’t. She was a long way from the command course at Starfleet Academy now. Not a minute after getting comfortable the system decided to make her uncomfortable with a beedee be beep beedee be beep. She looked around, “That wasn’t me, was it?”
“No ma’am. “ Came the response. “I’m showing the Cardassian shuttle attempting to take off from the surface has been caught in the atmospheric electrical storm. Their engine system has taken a hit and they don’t seem to have enough propulsion to reach the upper atmosphere.”
Bonnie looked at the Cardassian warships. “Are they aware?” She asked with concern in her voice.
“Unknown.”
“Well hail them, message them, something.” Bonnie demanded.
“They are not responding ma’am.”
Realization dawned. It was the Kobyashi Maru test all over again. The Cardassians would not flinch from their posturing, even to help their own. But if she endangered her ship and crew she would be putting them in a dangerous position. And there was of course how mad the Captain might be if the Liberty was damaged. She needed options. “Transporters?”
“The lightning storm is interfering with a lock.”
“Tractor beam?” She realized how silly that was the moment it left her lips.
“Out of range.”
Why did these things have such limited range? Now what? If they flinched the Cardassians would likely fire. Where was the Captain when you needed her?
"Ma'am I am getting a call from Sick bay. The Captain says to set course for Vulcan post haste."
And there it was, a direct order from the Captain. But the Captain wasn't aware of the situation that had been brewing since her arrival on the ship. Now Bonnie was overwhelmed with both a moral and ethical dilemma and as usual time was not on her side.
She stood, garnering everyone's attention. She had her game face on. "Alright, I need a 360 degree radion burst on my mark, just enough to blind their sensors. Helm set a course for atmospheric incursion, get us within tractor beam reach of that shuttle as fast as you can. Tactical, keep a close lock on the warbirds. They so much as twitch I want to know."
She stood tall and proud. "I am about to commit a direct order for the good of saving lives, that burden falls on me alone." She stated for the record. Then pressed the intership intercom weeooh. "All hands brace for atmospheric incursion. Hold onto your butts it's about to get bumpy." Weeooh. She closed the channel the sat down in the seat.
Meanwhile the Captain was resting in sickbay, only partially aware of who was in control of her ship. She'd left the gamma shift watchman in charge, and that wasn't his voice so what exactly was going on.
TBC
