The Destruction of SB 211

Posted on Sat Aug 3rd, 2019 @ 11:20pm by Lieutenant Commander Jacob "Jack" Devine
Edited on on Sat Aug 3rd, 2019 @ 11:29pm

Mission: Preludes
Location: Deep Space
Timeline: 2376
Tags: SB211

It was a quiet night. Jacob’s father was on watch in the fighter bay and he had agreed to allow Jacob to sleep over at Arthur’s. At the moment both boys were in the rec room with Orion Hall and the girls - Jennifer Murdock, Dallas Holmes, and Myvelle Chan and a couple of other kids. They were all taking turns at two tables of 3D chess while another small group was playing checkers in the corner. At the moment Orion and Arthur were sitting at one table while Jennifer and Dallas were at the other. Jacob and Myvelle hung out on the sidelines watching. They’d each play the winner and then those two winners would play each other.

The tournament was Arthur’s idea. Jacob wasn’t fond of 3D chess though he wasn’t half bad at it. The others didn’t seem to mind. They had pizza and popcorn and all sorts of snacks along with the favored fizzy water. Jacob was sipping on a bottle of grape.

Jennifer lost to Dallas first. Myvelle stepped in to take her place while Jennifer settled beside Jacob. She reached over and stole the bottle right out of his hand and helped herself to a long drink. Jacob attempted to give her his best annoyed look but her cute little smirk made that impossible. He reached over with one hand to tickle while the other wrapped around the top of the bottle.

It was an amusing moment but short lived when Jennifer’s comm badge went off. With a sigh Jacob let go. He knew what was coming.

=^=Jenn, darling, can you come back home? Daddy and I need to check on the experiment in bay three of the science lab.=^=

Jenn rolled her eyes at Jacob and poked him with her finger once before hitting her comm badge. “On my way, mom.”

“Do you /have/ to go?” Jacob protested. “When do you ever get time to just be one of us?”

“I’ve had my time,” she replied glancing up at the clock. “I’ve been here for nearly an hour.” Jennifer leaned in and kissed Jacob’s cheek. “Behave. I’ll see you again before you know it.” She stood up and wiggled the bottle in his direction. “And thanks for this.”

“Hey!” he shot back but ended up laughing as she walked out with his bottle of grape fizzy water and an exaggerated shake of her hips. One of these days he’d get her away from her controlling parents... maybe he’d kidnap her.

“Dammit!” Orion swore, all heads turning in his direction. “Well, he won... the little redheaded freak won.”

Arthur grinned. “Bet you say that to all your betters.”

Orion growled but got up from the table. “C’mon Jake. Kick his butt for me, dude.”

Jacob pushed off the bench and wandered over to the table to grab another bottle of grape fizzy water before heading over to take Orion’s seat. “Reset.”

Orion pulled up a chair to the side of the table to watch.

Jacob was two moves in when the klaxon went off. The shrill sound startled everyone, the garish red lighting sweeping the deck cause for alarm.

-c-Red alert, red alert-- -c-

The rest of the computer generated warning was lost as the base shook. Myvelle squealed and nearly everyone gasped or cried out. The doors parted to the presence of nine year old Evan Rand. His face was pale, eyes wide. Behind him a whole section of the base was missing, the only thing holding him in the force fields that had automatically tripped.

Jacob grabbed the boy and pulled him inside the room, stepping back so the doors closed.

“What the hell is going on!” Orion shouted.

Another explosion rocked the room and bottles of fizzy water crashed to the floor, colored bubbly liquid spraying over everything. Dallas got up from the table and ripped off the panel next to the door and went to work.

“What are you doing?” Orion demanded.

“Making damn SURE these doors are airtight. If the fields break out there and they're not sealed we’re all dead!” Dallas’ nimble fingers secured the room quickly and she looked around at the group.

“Jennifer!” Jacob spoke the name with growing horror, his arms wrapped around a petrified nine year old Evan Rand.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Arthur stood back from the table, a pawn in his hand. “Besides, she might be safer than we are.”

“Like hell there’s nothing we can do!” Orion pointed up at the JT access over their heads.

“It’s going to depend on how badly they’re compromised,” Dallas met his eyes. “With the corridor torn away...”

“Can you cross the fields?” Orion asked.

“Only if they’re connected.” Dallas looked around at the panicked faces and then pointedly at Jacob.

“We can’t just sit here.” Orion also turned his attention on Jacob. “This room is on the outer hub. Whatever is going on out there we’re sitting in the equivalent of a sore thumb. You wanna take a chance on whether this room gets whacked next?”

Jacob drew a breath and let it out slow and easy. He was worried about Jennifer but Arthur was right. She could be safer than they were at the moment.

“Jake?”

Odd how much your opinion mattered when you were the eldest in the room during a crisis. “Oreo’s right. We can’t just stay here and wait to be blown to bits. We’ve got to try to get to one of the escape pods.”

“See,” Orion grabbed the table and gave it a jerk but it didn’t move.

Dallas laughed. “It’s bolted to the floor, idiot,” she remarked though she did so almost affectionately. Reaching into her coverall pocket she pulled out a hyperspanner and dropped to the floor. In a few minutes she had all the bolts removed. The boys then moved the table under the JT access.

Jacob judged the distance. It was going to be a bit of a stretch. “Oreo, I think you’re going to have to go first and help me get the little ones up.”

“Roger, chief!” Orion jumped up on top of the table and reached over his head. Even at his height he wasn’t quite tall enough. Jacob handed up a chair after Dallas released it from the bolts on the floor. It wobbled but it was enough for Orion to get his fingers on the outer casing of the access and yank it off. He then grabbed the rim and pulled himself up inside.

Jacob climbed onto the table. “Youngest and shortest first,” he told the group. He’d bring up the rear.

It took several minutes but they finally had the entire room into the JTs above their head. Orion was leading the group with Arthur (who had wormed his way up through the small kids) and Myvelle behind him. Dallas was right in front of Jacob who was at the rear with Evan in front of her and the small kids between.

They moved as quickly as they could but it was still slow going as they had to reroute with every compromised junction and naturally every shake and rumble of the station caused a stall. It felt like they’d been at it for days. Jacob’s body was feeling cramped and he could only imagine what Orion was feeling considering he was the largest of the group.

It happened so fast. A flash of brilliant light. Roar of sound. Wash of heat. Jacob snatched at Dallas and hauled her back into him about the same time that she grabbed hold of Evan Rand. There was no time for a scream. The tunnel before them was gone in a rush, the field capping it off sparking angrily. Jacob stared past Dallas and Evan into the void and across to the other side of the rip. Myvelle was gaping at them, beyond her Arthur and Orion. All the kids in between for their own safety were just gone. Gone! How was that for irony?

“What do we do?!” Dallas was breathing hard, her body pressing back into Jacob’s chest and her hands white knuckled over a whimpering Evan.

Jacob swallowed and carefully shifted his position so he could see Orion on the other side. Their eyes met and Jacob motioned for the other boy to keep going. Orion nodded but it took some harsh words and physical hands on to get Arthur and Myvelle to follow him.

“Jacob, we’re trapped.” Dallas finally turned her head as much as she could to look up at him.

“It isn’t over yet, Sprocket. Think. There was a junction back a ways where we had a choice and you insisted we go this way. We can try the other path.”

“It leads toward the power station. If the core has been damaged it could be leaking radioactive waste and...” Dallas trailed off with a grim expression. “We have to risk it.”

“Yeh, we do.” Jacob backed up. “You’re going to have to lead. I don’t know that area as well as you. Evan, you’re in the middle.”

“NO!” Evan protested.

“Look, there won’t be that much distance between us, buddy. Not like it was for them. It’s safer if I know you need help before you need it.” Jacob pushed the small boy along as they rearranged their positions.

Dallas crawled back the way they’d come as quick as she could with Evan on her heels and Jacob right behind. Their part of the station shuddered periodically causing Evan to squeal and cry out. Jacob had to get rough with the boy more than once, pushing him from behind to keep him moving. Dallas found the junction that Jacob had mentioned and took the path she’d tried so hard to avoid. Jacob could see her shaken state but she kept moving, fighting to keep her fear at bay. To be honest, he'd fall apart later. Right now Jacob was angry. They were just a bunch of kids. They had all practiced evacuation drills but they’d been cut off from following those drills. The only thing saving them now was their disobedience in exploring the JT system. Imagine if they had NO idea where they were heading.

They came to another cross section.

“It’s getting hotter Jake.” Dallas’ voice quivered as she turned to look back at him.

“We don’t want to go that way,” Jacob pointed to the right. “It’s along the outer rim of the station. The chances of it being torn away somewhere are pretty high.”

“We can’t go that way.” Dallas pointed left. “It leads around the outside of the reaction chamber. With the heat we’re feeling at this range it’s probably leaking. Being that close could kill us.”

“Damned if we do, damned if we don’t,” Jacob muttered.

“What if we keep going straight?” Evan asked, eyes wide as he looked up at the older pair.

“Warp core,” Jacob and Dallas said together.

Jacob looked right. “Okay, I guess it’s around the rim. I’ll lead this time. Dallas, take the rear.”

Nothing like crawling through a tube in dim lighting while it shook beneath your hands and knees. Nothing like knowing that outside your tube could be the cold of space. Of course it wasn’t reality until Jacob made a turn and instantly drew back with a gasp of pain.

“What is it?” Dallas asked.

“Tube is cold enough to burn.” Jacob met Dallas’ eyes over Evan’s head.

“What does that mean?” Evan asked innocently. Frightened tears drying along the sides of his face.

Jacob wasn’t about to tell him and he didn’t have to tell Dallas. It meant that the outside of the tube was actually exposed to space. There wasn’t enough insulation to keep it warm.

“We don’t have a choice,” Dallas mouthed the words.

“Evan, I want you to turn around and sit backward on my legs. Use your feet on the JT to help push me. We’re going to get through this tunnel as quick as we can. Understand?” Jacob got into the hands and knees position and he could hear Dallas helping to settle the small boy. The tunnel was insulated enough that Jacob’s hands didn’t stick but it was cold enough to burn. In hindsight he should have torn some cloth to protect his and Dallas’ hands but he didn’t have any idea how much time they had. If this section was exposed to space, how long before it was permanently open?

They moved in silence, the pain shooting up through Jacob’s hands into his arms. He should have put Dallas in front. He moved as quick as he could, his teeth firmly latched onto his bottom lip to hold everything he was feeling inside. Behind him he could hear Dallas struggling and Evan murmuring words of encouragement, unaware of the nature of the danger they were all in.

By degrees the tunnel beneath his hands began to warm but Jacob’s palms were numb and stinging. The base rocked, throwing him to the side and causing him to flatten himself to keep from tossing Evan. Dallas screamed, her hand latching onto Jacob’s leg. For a second or two Jacob felt the intense pull that slid him back and then it was gone as another force field closed off a section that had been sheared off behind them and was now open to the pitch black of space.

“Go!” Dallas shouted as she pulled Evan off of Jacob’s legs and directed him to crawl. “Hurry!”

As Jacob passed through another juncture, Dallas sealed the hatch and spun the wheel. The fields beyond wouldn’t hold much longer. They took a minute to catch their breaths but were soon moving again.

They were fortunate enough to reach a section of residential space but only to find themselves trapped with other families, none of which belonged to anyone they knew well. It was then that they learned that another Starship had entered their space. A group of fighters used their tractor beams to wedge a life pod in through one of the fields. Tired, sore, chill burned on the palms, knees and feet, Jacob along with Dallas and Evan and quite a number of other children and a few adults crowded into the pod and sealed the door.

It wasn’t until hours later that they found out what happened to Orion and Arthur and Myvelle. The group was eventually reunited on the USS Achilles but not everyone made it.

So much loss...

=*=

LtCmdr Jacob "Hijack" Devine
Squadron Leader
USS Andromeda