TBC: Trip

STAR TREK

  TO BE CONTINUED...

  Trip

  1. Have a break, take a trip

  Room 306, deck 3. Not too spacious but all necessities are there. It is Ensign Casparian's quarters. In her own words 'nice and cosy'.

  She was standing in front of a small mirror, combing her long dark brown hair, when a message appeared on her computer pad screen. She went over to the table and read it.

  It said there would be a change in schedule for the coming weeks. Because there would be a big overhaul of the three docking pylons in a few weeks, the engineers were given one week off before the busy period. Romyana was part of the first group to have a week free of duty. Of course she was pleased but had no idea how to spend all this time.

  She went out to the restaurant on the promenade, where she met up with some of her colleagues. They were full of ideas what to do. Some went to visit their family or took a vacation in a nearby solar system. One of them even said he would stay at Quarks all week to win big time in Dabo games. But Romyana didn't feel much for this, neither to go on some tourist vacation. Nor could she visit mom and dad because they would be too busy with their work.

  ***

  Next Monday Romyana was wandering around the station on her own. She wandered into corridors that all began to look alike and seemingly formed a maze with no end, but then around the corner familiar places appeared. She heard somebody approaching and felt caught though there was no reason to.

  "Ah, hello. Odd place to be meeting you, is it not?" It was Commander Sisko who came stepping in the corridor. The last person she expected to run into.

  "Just taking a stroll, Sir." she stammered.

  "Well, you must be very bored if you go take walks around this part of the station for fun." he said. The Ensign was embarrassed and didn't know what to say to that. Of course it was very true what the commander had said, she didn't have anything useful to do.

  Walking along together, back to familiar ground, Sisko spoke.

  "If you want to be on the edge of space travel and want to see some real exploration at work, I have just the thing for you. After all, that is the reason why you wanted to come here, isn't it?"

  "Yes, Sir. It is. What do you have in mind?" she asked.

  "I will assign you on a away mission due this week. If you are bold enough to go of course." was his suggestion.

  It had been a great desire for Romyana to join such a mission and this was a wonderful surprise and not to miss opportunity, so she accepted eagerly.

  "Walk along to my office, then we will arrange it immediately." Sisko said and so they did. The time and place of assembly and the commanding officer to report to were given, as well as the destination and purpose of the mission.

  Major Kira was going to Bajor to a diplomatic meeting, she would take a small exploratory vessel called a Runabout, tomorrow morning and would be accompanied by another officer. Federation rules state there should be at least two officers together on an away mission for safety reasons. They would take along the Ensign as well, as a passenger.

  All exited, and a bit nervous, Romyana left Operations with a smile from ear to ear. She couldn't wait!

  2. Talk, talk

  That morning just before nine 'o clock, Ensign Casparian was present at the runabout docking port. Her suitcase was loaded into the runabout for they were going to spend two nights on the planet. Now she and Kira were waiting for the third person to arrive.

  There he was, exactly at nine, doctor Julian Bashir came strolling up to them.

  "Present." he said with a cool attitude and then gave a grin. He knew they had been waiting for him though he arrived exactly on time.

  But Major Kira isn't one to be fooled with and simply replied, "Let's go then." She opened the docking bay door and entered the vessel.

  "You're coming too then." Bashir said to her with air when the Ensign went to follow the Major.

  The Ensign didn't really know what to make of that at first but then replied.

  "Yes. It's all new to me and I have never been to Bajor yet."

  The doctor went in first followed by Romyana.

  "It is nothing much exiting, though." he said and sat down in the front seat next to Kira.

  "Don't mind him." the Major said and gave Bashir a stern look. "He is not his exiting self today."

  They worked through the checklist without speaking any further, launched the little craft away from the station and set course to Bajor. It would take them three hours to get there so there was plenty of time to talk.

  "So do you know much about Bajor already?" Kira asked and turned the pilot seat around to face the Ensign who was sitting in the back of the runabout.

  "Only a little basics," Romyana responded, "and the stories my Bajorean colleagues told me."

  "I'm afraid I cannot give you a tour, because I have to attend the congress." Kira said.

  "Oh, that's all right. I did not expect to go on a sight seeing tour. My goal was to learn from this mission, to see what it would be like in reality. That is what interests me." Ensign Casparian explained.

  "Hm." dr. Bashir said and turned his seat around as well "It might be interesting now, but within a year you will have a very different look on these tedious away missions. Unfortunately, regulations state there should be at least two officers attending such missions and it was my turn this time." Bashir complained, but with an air as if it all was too easy for him to be bothered with. Some people call it arrogance.

  "Tell me, why didn't you go visit your family like everyone else?" Bashir then asked. "You could do this any time."

  "Oh, they are too busy with their work." the Ensign said lightly.

  "What is it they do then?" Major Kira quickly asked before Julian would make another rude remark. Apparently Julian was having a bad mood today, it was not really clear why. He had never before complained about these missions being boring, he usually was eager to be in on the action. Perhaps he was jealous of the Ensign. She was allowed to do things he, and many other Academy students, were not yet allowed being her age. Kira just hoped Julian's mood would subside soon, because they had to spend quite some time together on Bajor while the Major would be at the congress.

  3. The restaurant

  It was noon by the time they had arrived on Bajor. The Doctor and the Ensign escorted Major Kira to the congress and the two of them went to find a place to have lunch in the City.

  The restaurant was nearby. It was rather dark inside, a bit like a pub and there were lot of people. Still, all the way in the back against a wall they found themselves a small table to sit.

  Bashir ordered the food. He said he knew what it would taste like, "A combination of red beet roots and tomatoes." was how he described the dish.

  However doubtful, the Ensign was determined to at least have a taste.

  "So", Bashir said, "You think you are so good, you can study at Starfleet Academy while working on Deep Space nine, one of the most remote stations of the Federation, and graduate?" It was a very direct question and so Romyana decided to give a very direct answer.

  "Yes, it might take longer than the usual four years, but it will increase my career opportunities by far."

  "Do you like being out here?" he asked.

  "Very much. It runs in the family, I guess. We've always been involved in space exploration, from the beginning." she said.

  "Oh, really?" Bashir replied, while tucking into the food which had just been brought to their table.

  "True. My whole family had always been working for space agencies, my father told me. That is probably where I got my talent from and the love for outer space." Romyana proudly explained.

  "I heard you were a genius at school too." Romyana said, perhaps a bad choice o
f words.

  Bashir didn't really notice and began talking about his time at the Academy and all the brilliant things he had achieved, and when he does that there is no stopping him. Romyana didn't mind, she listened greedily at his stories.

  Against Julian's expectations, the Ensign turned out to be a clever girl and being genuinely interested in what he was telling. Something that rarely happened when Bashir started talking about medicine. Usually people stop following him after a while and loose interest. ( one big reason why his dates don't work out.) Anyway his bad mood was gone now and didn't return for the entire trip.

  The congress had finished and after a brief tour through the City with Major Kira, the three left Bajor again in their little space craft.

  4. Trouble starts

  Two hours later, well on their way back to the station, the board computer gave a warning.

  "What's the problem?" Bashir asked.

  "An EPS-coupling broke. The power to the stabilisers is failing." Kira said calmly, while pushing the controls. "I will reroute the power through auxiliary systems." she said.

  "Fine." Bashir said. Apparently it is not so big a deal when things on board of a space ship break down during flight. The officers didn't seem to worry a bit.

  "Well, that's where secondary systems are for, of course. In case something fails." Romyana thought to herself.

  Though not long after this, the runabout began to move less smooth than normal.

  Then it happened. The back-up system had failed as well and the ship was jolting heavily. Most unfortunately Major Kira had just stood up and was working on a panel on the side of the inner hull, trying to compensate the discontinuities. She was thrown through the vessel because of it's erratic movements.

  Again the computer alarm sounded.

  Bashir worked the cockpit controls to get the ship to a full stop and Ensign Casparian held on firmly to the railings on the wall.

  "The engine interface doesn't respond." Bashir called. But Kira had fallen to the ground and didn't move.

  "What do I do?" he asked desperately. He looked back and saw Kira was unconscious.

  The Ensign had pulled Kira over to the wall and was holding on to the Major and the railings tightly to prevent her getting hurt even further. Then Bashir turned his eyes to the Ensign asking her for help.

  Quickly the Ensign thought about a solution, after all she was studying to become an engineer.

  "Shut down the computer. Everything!" she said confidently. It seemed drastic but at least the vessel would stop shaking.

  Bashir pressed some buttons then said, "It waits for shut down procedures."

  "No time! Override them." Casparian said.

  "How? Ah! This should do it." Bashir mumbled.

  The jolting stopped, the ship was now floating aimlessly through space. Immediately the doctor got up from the pilot seat and went over to Kira and the Ensign.

  "Well done." he said to Casparian when he took over the Major from her.

  While dr. Bashir was tending to Major Kira, Ensign Casparian remained sitting there for a while. She stared out in front of her, somewhat stunned.

  Bashir glanced at the Ensign a few times before he approached her, keeling down to her level he asked, "Are you okay, Romyana?"

  "Hm, yes. I'm fine." she said a bit confused, she was obviously not okay though.

  "How is Major Kira?" she asked concerned.

  "Not so good I'm afraid. She needs proper medical attention, preferably at the station, as quickly as possible. Do you think you can get this ship up and running and fly us back to Deep Space nine?" Bashir asked hopefully.

  "Yes." Romyana said quite confidently. "I will start by getting the main computer back on-line."

  "All right. Will you first help me get her on this bunk bed, please?" Bashir said. Romyana agreed and they carefully lifted the unconscious Major onto the bed. Then Romyana went over to the pilot seat and started up the main computer.

  It was only then that she noticed that her hands had been severely damaged by them slamming into the wall and other objects while she was trying to get a grip when the ship was out of control. They were bleeding a bit, but she wiped them off on her suit and carried on working the controls.

  The systems started up fine for a moment but then all power was lost again. Though her first try had failed she was determined to succeed and tried again. This time only starting up each system at a time as to not overload the EPS-conduits.

  Within ten minutes she had managed to get all primary systems, such as life support and engine control, working nicely except for the Inertial Damping system for this was the source of all the trouble.

  Though it hadn't taken her very long to do this, Kira still hadn't regained consciousness. It worried Romyana, and Julian too. He became very anxious to get to fly again and urged Romyana to hurry.

  The Ensign was doing what she could and as fast as she could. She had received many bruises all over her body during the bumpy ride earlier, but the cuts and bruises on her hands were slowing her down now.

  Despite of the pain and the swelling in her fingers, Romyana kept on repairing the EPS-coupling which had fused. It was a precise and minute job, behind an access panel and in between all sorts of cables, conduits and other devices. Though soon her fingers were too swollen to continue and after a lot of sighing and swearing, Romyana had to give up.

  Julian went over to see what the problem was, then he saw the state of her hands. Without saying a word he held the gently in his big warm hands. He took over the instrument she was working with and then spoke, "This is not 'just fine', is it?"

  Romyana was quiet for a moment and looked down at her hands, then she glanced at Kira.

  "We'll do it together. You tell me what to do to fix this thing, Okay?" Julian said.

  Romyana's tense face brightened up and a little smile of gratitude appeared, then she started explaining what had to be done to adjust the coupling.

  Finally the EPS-coupling had been replaced and adjusted. The stabilisers were working properly again, now all they had to do was fly home.

  5. Flying solo

  "Have you actually flown a runabout before?" Bashir asked. He was bandaging the Ensigns bruised hands.

  "I've had some flying lessons at the Academy." Romyana said. "I know the basics." though she didn't tell how good, or rather bad, her actual flying was during those lessons.

  "Good. Then you can fly this thing to DS9." Bashir said.

  Romyana sat down in the pilot seat reluctantly and Julian sat in the other seat.

  "I will help you get started up then." he added.

  Gently the Ensign set the little craft in motion, on course back to Deep Space Nine.

  "When we get into communications reach, I will hail the station and inform them of the situation." Bashir suggested.

  Romyana looked on one of the screens.

  "That should be some ten minutes from now, ? Sir."

  ***

  Ten minutes later Bashir contacted Operations, telling them to stand by with medical assistance and he briefly explained to Commander Sisko what had happened.

  "How are your hands" the doctor asked after a while.

  "Oh they are still sour and swollen, but I will manage." Romyana said toughly, however she would much rather not move anything at all right now, but thinking of Major Kira's condition made the Ensign continue. The Major was far worse off and not improving either.

  Then, as they got into Transporter range, finally Kira's situation changed. She woke up, but was still not feeling very well. Julian went to check on the Major.

  "Romyana?" he asked, "Are we in Transporter range yet?"

  "Yes. We have just passed into range, Sir." she said when she had checked it on a control panel.

  "Then ask Ops to beam Kira and me to the infirmary." he ordered.

  "Yes, Sir." Romyana replied.

  "You'll have to bring the runabout in alone. I trust
you can manage that, certainly after repairing it as quick as you did just then. It should be a piece of cake. Apparently you do have talent for Engineering." Bashir complimented.

  "Thank you, Sir." Romyana said and sent the message requesting the beam up.

  "Will you come by later to have you hands treated?" the doctor said.

  "I will." she replied.

  "Good luck, Romyana. See you then." Julian said.

  "Bye, Julian." Romyana said before the two officers were beamed off the runabout.

  With some help from Lieutenant Dax at Ops, the Ensign managed to return safely to the station and dock the runabout without any further damage.

  Later that day Romyana went to visit Major Kira and Julian in the infirmary. Kira was doing much better now and would make a full recovery.

  The Ensign's bruised and broken fingers were mended by doctor Bashir. It would take a few weeks for the broken ones to be healed completely.

  While Bashir was tending to her hands, Romyana said, "Now, you can tell me a lot of things, but I will never think of an away mission to be 'not that exiting'!" She was referring to the conversation at the beginning of their journey to Bajor.

  "Good." Julian replied. "It means you're in the right place, because from now on all your missions will be even more exiting than this one. Looking forward to join me one another one again?" he asked.

  "Anytime!" Romyana said confidently.

  THE END

  storywriter

  Becky Miller

  production

  Sylfaen Publications

  Credits: This story is based on the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Star Trek is owned by Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No permission was asked, though authenticity was maintained as much as possible. No infringement intended. Some characters and most happenings do not occur in the original tv series and were added freely by the author. This document or any of its content may not be reproduced or profitably sold in any way without written permission of the copyright and trademark owners. Becky Miller 2005, 2009.