Predators Part 4

Posted on Fri Jan 10th, 2025 @ 8:25pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Owen Woodhouse & Ensign Emilynn Dove

2,457 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Long Hard Road Ahead
Location: USS Firebird
Timeline: 07 October, 2396- 0900 Hours

[ON]

No one tells you what it will be like to serve aboard a starship, especially one as small as the USS Firebird. All of the changes had wreaked havoc on her lifestyle, and she struggled to find any semblance of order in the chaos. She longed for the days when she knew exactly what would happen, when it would happen, and where. Adjusting to life aboard the ship had proven harder than she had expected, but as the days continued, she found things just a little bit easier to adjust to.

Here on the ship, her daily schedule had completely changed from that of the academy. The periodic change in shift assignments had not helped matters. Still, she did understand it was necessary depending on what work orders needed to be completed on any given day or week.

She had found she enjoyed many of the jobs she had been assigned, mostly because they were solo assignments. Working with others on her team had proven a bit more challenging. Not that she didn’t welcome others' feedback or input, just that she had to be more social than she was comfortable with. They always wanted to talk about their personal life, and she would just rather stick to talking about warp coils and sensor arrays than what she did in her free time. Her last assignment working with Baris had surprised her. She had found it to be quite enjoyable, but he wasn’t one to do much talking about his private life.

‘I wonder what today will hold,’ Emilynn thought silently as she left her quarters and walked towards the turbolift to report for duty.

Lieutenant Owen Woodhouse was already having a bad day as he waited in the pre-arranged meeting spot just inside the airlock that led out to the station. He was also acutely aware that he wasn't even supposed to be there right then. He should have been on shore leave, a long-awaited break that had been approved months before Firebird became stranded in the Gamma Quadrant. Missing out on reconnecting with an old friend, True from USS Rhea, felt like a cruel joke. They’d talked about exploring the markets on Bajor and catching up over drinks -- plans that now felt like they belonged to a life he might never return to. He wondered what True was thinking now. Did she think he was dead? But there was no time to dwell on it. He had a job to do, and soon Ensign Dove would arrive, expecting his guidance.

“Good day, Lieutenant Woodhouse,” Emilynn stated as she made eye contact with him. “I hope I haven’t kept you waiting long.”

Woodhouse forced a smile in greeting and reached down to pick up the tool kit he'd brought, "Not long, really." He motioned to the airlock and they walked out together, walking mostly in silence until they reached the nearest turbolift junction.

"You... uh, doing okay?" he asked, breaking the weird silence between them after they'd stepped onto the lift and set the destination.

“Me? Uh, yeah, I’m good,” she replied, though her voice wavered slightly due to the unease bubbling beneath the surface. As she forced a smile, the weight of her father’s words pressed heavily on her mind, it reminded her of the importance of honesty. He often said that those who couldn’t be truthful with themselves or others lacked integrity. To him, such individuals were weak and destined for mediocrity, and mediocrity wasn’t the Dove way. She took a deep breath, wishing to shake off the discomfort. “Well, there have been some adjustments to everything,” she admitted, her tone more vulnerable now, “but I’m handling it.”

She felt embarrassed and wanted nothing more than to shift the focus away from herself. “How are you?” she asked in return.

Owen regarded her answer and the question reflected back upon himself for a second before the lift doors opened. "Same, but sometimes I wonder how well I'm actually handling it," he replied as he stepped forward and into the small utility corridor that would lead them to the station's primary communications array at the very tip-top of the station. "So I just try to deal with each day as it comes and put the rest out of my head."

He paused in front of an unmarked door. It did not open automatically. "This should be it," he said as he pressed a button on the door controls with no effect.

“I understand where you’re coming from; it’s a solid plan,” she replied, nodding as she connected with his words.

“Well, what exactly will we be focusing on today? That is, of course, if we can actually get in,” she added with a playful smile.

Owen smirked. "We'll get in," he replied confidently as he handed Emilynn the toolkit he was carrying and then popped open an access panel next to the door. "There's been some irregularities reported in the comm system over the last couple of shifts, so you're going to replace the antenna control module." His words were not unkind but were almost amused. "It'll be good training."

He yanked up on a lever, manually releasing the de-powered lock with not too much problem. From there, he pushed the door aside with a bit of effort.

“The antenna control module…” she said, more to herself than to him. She tried to recall anything she might have read on the topic, but nothing came to mind. It didn’t seem like it would be a particularly difficult task. Glancing over at him, she noticed that the smirk on his face had not faded. This made her curious about what he was thinking.

“I don’t believe I’ve had any experience with this particular job,” she said a little nervous to admit she was not completely prepared for the job ahead. “it doesn’t sound that difficult though. Is it?” she inquired, her curiosity evident in her tone.

"I honestly don't know, never done it either, but this is a modern space station using a Federation design, I expect it should be pretty straight-forward," Owen shrugged lightheartedly, then added, "And if all else fails, we hand it over to engineering."

The lighting came up on its own when he stepped into the antenna control room, showcasing the fairly small semi-circular space lined with panels and an EVA hatch for accessing the exterior components.

The wave of relief Emiynn had felt from Owen’s earlier words quickly faded, replaced by a growing unease as she stepped into the cramped room behind him. She scanned the space for signs of the antenna control module, but their options seemed limited. Her gaze was drawn to the hatch that led outside the station, it lingered there longer than she had intended. A chilling thought crept into her mind: ‘The module could very well be located out there.’

As the realization hit her, a shiver ran down her spine. Had Owen anticipated this possibility all along? The memory of his earlier amused smirk sparked her curiosity.

Her gaze fixed on the EVA suits that hung on the wall, their visors reflected the dim light from within the room. She battled with her rising anxiety. Although she had received extensive training on using these suits with her fellow cadets at the academy, that training had always taken place in a controlled environment. This situation felt profoundly different.

She struggled to maintain her composure, but eventually, she turned towards Owen. With her lips pressed tightly together, she took a steady breath in through her nose and then exhaled. With a sense of trepidation, she asked, “I don’t suppose the module is located in this room, is it?” Her voice was laced with hope and anticipation.

Owen turned around, read the look of terror on Emilynn's face, and froze for a second, half of him was empathetic but the other half found it sort of funny -- he tried not to let that latter part show and smiled in what he hoped came across as reassuring. "It is. This entire room is antenna control. There are 42 different antennas out there," he motioned to the airlock. "But the control systems for most of them are right here."

Emilynn let out a sigh of relief thankful for his answer. Now that her nerves had settled, her gaze focused on the intricate control system he had pointed out. She opened the panel and began looking at the malfunctioning module.

“Yes, this looks good,” she said, nodding with newfound confidence. “Replacing this doesn't seem too difficult. It’s pretty straightforward, just like you mentioned.” She reached for the toolkit when, suddenly, the lights dimmed, bathing the entire room in red as "INTRUDER ALERT" flashed across a monitoring station embedded in the wall near the door. She glanced over at Owen, seeking answers.

Owen immediately moved to the wall panel to try to assess the situation happening somewhere on the station. "Command functions are locked out, as they should be," he noted, his fingers tapping rapidly through screens and diagrams as he tried to figure out a way to access internal sensors. "Hmm," he eventually said uncomfortably as one of his overrides eventually got him into the security logs. "Reports of armed intruders coming in on multiple decks."

“It’s probably just looters again,” she said, shaking her head in mild disbelief. “I have a feeling the security team will have it all under control in no time. Besides, I think we are safe here. I mean, just look where we are—who would want to come here?” she added with a soft chuckle.

"Whatever their intentions, our job is to maintain order and control, and this is neither," Owen said a bit abrasively as he continued to run into roadblocks getting answers from a locked-out panel. "We need to get to engineering. I can be of more help there."

With that, he picked up the toolkit and headed for the door back to the turbolift.

Emilynn fell silent and trailed behind Owen. The tension in the air was palpable as they retraced their steps through the dimly lit corridor toward the turbolift. Just a short distance from the control room, the muffled sounds of voices and shuffling feet broke the stillness, drawing their attention. Straining to see, Emilynn peered ahead and caught sight of a cluster of dark silhouettes gathering in the shadows, their presence anything but welcome. She could tell that Owen saw them too. Having not yet been noticed by the intruders, they both stopped.

A chill ran down Emilynn's spine as her heart raced, each beat echoing in her ears. She quickly glanced at Owen, searching his expression for any sign of what he intended to do next. Unsure but resolute, she prepared herself mentally for whatever was about to unfold, bracing for the inevitable clash—or the possibility of a desperate escape.

A bolt of blue-white fire erupted from the darkness, slicing through the air and barely missing Owen. In the brief light, both Emilynn and Owen had enough time to see the imposing sight of two Jem'Hadar, each wielding a brutish-looking rifle. A second shot struck the wall near Emilynn's head.

Owen ducked behind a bulkhead and nodded to the antenna control room as he pulled a phaser pistol out of the side of the tool kit. "Go back! I'll cover you and be right behind you," he shouted, poking out into the corridor and providing suppressing fire to keep the Jem'Hadar pushed back.

Reeling from the shock of narrowly escaping the fire, Emilynn quickly did as she was told.

Once inside, he closed and secured the door. "Ok, listen. We're outnumbered and that door isn't going to hold long. See the EVA locker over there? I need you to suit up." Given her reaction earlier to the idea of EVA, he tried to remain as calm as he could. "You did this in the Academy. Trust your training."

It was all happening so fast. Emilynn closed her eyes for a brief moment, took a deep breath, and shook her head repeatedly in acknowledgment as she listened to Owen’s instructions. When she opened her eyes, she felt ready for what was to come. She knew he was right; the door wasn’t going to hold, and this was their only option. Quickly, she made her way to the suits and began putting one on, all the while the commotion on the other side of the door grew louder.

The center of the door bloomed a fierce yellow as some energy source slammed into it. In the blink of an eye, a small glimmer of the outside corridor became visible. The energy beam let up, the humming sound falling away like rain suddenly cut off.

"We have you, Starfleet. Surender and we will take you prisoner. Continue, and we will end your existence," a low voice rumbled.

Owen was close behind Emilynn to the EVA suits. He was very familiar with the equipment, but even under ideal circumstances it was generally a tedious process of checks and double-checks that they did not have time to perform. He made sure the monitor for Emilynn's suit seals was showing green and that she had a tether attached before beginning to secure his own. He wasn't yet finished when the majority of the door between them and the intruders melted away and they got their first glimpse at a Jem'Hadar trooper.

"Blow the hatch," Owen ordered the junior officer. Or we're dead. He clicked on his helmet. "Now."

The EVA suits, though bulky, couldn't compare to the officers' determination as they quickly donned them. Emilynn could hardly believe the chaos unfolding around her. Her gaze darted between the intruders and her suit, feeling the urgency of the moment. She watched as the intruders finally crossed the threshold where the door once stood, and Owen's urgent command snapped her back to reality. She reached for the controls just as he secured the final piece of his suit.

Suddenly, the hatch opened, and everything not bolted down—including the Jem'Hadar intruders—was sucked out into the vastness of space. Their screams went unheard, swallowed by the deafening sound of the vacuum. Emilynn's eyes widened in disbelief.

A fraction of a second later, a forcefield snapped into place, leaving the two Starfleet personnel in silence.

Lieutenant Owen Woodhouse
Chief Operations Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298


Ensign Emilynn Dove
Operations Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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