Gathering the lost

Posted on Tue Nov 22nd, 2022 @ 5:23am by Lieutenant Commander Kara Starr {Kelea-Salik} & Captain Samuel Woolheater & Lieutenant JG Damien Blackford

Mission: Season 6 : Episode 1: Circinus
Location: DECK 10 - Cargo Bay 1
Timeline: MD03 - 0230
2343 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

{ON}

~ Cargo Bay ~

Kara moaned as she stirred, last she remembered was being tossed backwards. Her body had connected with some boxes, and other containers had fallen around and on top of those surrounding her. She was encased in an unstable pile, she tried to move but cried out in pain, her leg was trapped and she was bleeding from somewhere.

“Hello? Is there anyone out there!?” She listened for an answer but there wasn’t one. “Hello, someone! Anyone! Please help me!!”

DECK 10

Damien groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, looking around the deck he had been in the middle of patrolling the ship when had suddenly, and rather violently, jolted and started shaking. With no warning, Damien hadn't had any time to secure himself and had been thrown against the nearest wall, his head slamming into the bulkhead, knocking him unconscious.

Luckily, it didn't look like too much time had passed as he slowly stood up, one hand feeling the back of his head, wincing as a sharp spike of pain lanced through. Painful, but dry at least. At least he wasn't bleeding. Drawing his Phaser with his other hand, he tapped his Comm badge. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Blackford to... Well to anyone who can hear. Can I get a SITREP?" Silence. He let out a shuddery sigh, before tapping again, repeating the message... Silence again. "Great." He muttered under his breath.

Looking around, he located the nearest, still working, computer screen. Hurrying over, he stopped in front of it, eyes widening as he scanned it, taking in the message. "Oh shit." He muttered. "Shit, shit, shit." At least there didn't seem to be any breaches on this deck. Small mercies.

He just needed to start moving. Head to the bridge. He was bound to find someone along the way.


DECK 23

One of the medical lab technicians was frantically searching for Doctor Starr. She had been working with Kara on synthesizing blood stores for the Romulan blood type. There needed to be some more quality and type testing to be done , she was going to ask her about it in the later morning. Of course, Kara was also with child and that was a cause for concern. Molly could not get off of this deck. Communications were down too. She was worried and she knew that Kara was all the way up on deck nine. It seemed like an impossible task. Emergency bulkheads were in place. One shouldn't go unlocking them - they were in place for a reason. And even if one threw caution to the wind, they were still a pain in the ass to manually unlock. Molly felt powerless and she was worried. She had a bad feeling about the whole ordeal.

Then, they heard a sound from the turboshaft. Someone was on the other side and was using those magnetic door unlock things. There must have been forty-five peple here and they all crowded around the door. The door unlocked and slid open. There were four marines in there. Their flashlights were on their wrists and helmets. It was a welcome sight! Molly, who was usually shy and reserved, wasted no time in snaking her way to the front. She had no idea what rank or position this guy was, she said, "Doctor Starr, doctor Kara Starr. She is on the medical team, in the medical department. She's not answering the COMM and I am worried about her."

The marine politely but firmly said, "Yes, the COMM's are down. If everybody could just chill and take a breath! Please! Hold on. We're here to help but we don't have all the answers. What are the injuries here?"

Molly was not about to be side lined. She grabbed the next marine and said, "No, listen. You don't understand. Doctor Starr might be in trouble. She's pregnant. Very. Pregnant." The marine looked at her and said, "Where is she?"

"I don't know. I need your help to locate her" she replied.

The marine simply shrugged, "Lady? Take a look around. Everybody here has the same story. What do you want me to do about it? COMMS are down and so are internal sensors." He moved aside and Molly did get pushed to the side by other people. "No....NO!!"


In the cargo bay Kara was trying to assess her own injuries, she had a minor headwound, cuts and bruises, her baby was moving which was a huge relief, but she couldn’t sit up to get to her leg. There was blood on hand but she couldn’t figure out where exactly from. “Imzadi...where are you?” She wiped away tears, now wasn’t the time to give up.

Back on deck twenty-three, Molly may have gotten pushed aside but she wasn't done. She ran back to her quarters and was looking for two things. One was her emergency medkit. The second was a copy that her neighbor's kid did for an art project. It was a hand drawn copy of the saucer section master situation display. There it was, broken out of its frame but not torn. She grabbed it and then ran back to the crowd of people and to the marine in charge.

"Listen to me, please! I can help! I have an emergency medkit. And I have a map. And...I need your help." Molly stood her ground breathing with panic.

The marine sergeant looked at her, "OK. Tell us what you need."

She told them again that Doctor Kara Starr, a surgeon that will be needed was missing. But this time she added an educated guess. A hopeful...guess. "I know where she is..."

The marine looked at her, "Yes?"

Molly quickly reasoned that Kara was a light sleeper. Molly had finished the lab production of Romulan plasma at 0130. She knew that was right. She sent a message to Kara at 0145 and reminded Kara that the quality of the plasma had to be checked. She reasoned that Kara might have gone shortly thereafter to deck 10 cargo bay where they stored blood test kits. Kara was like that, why wait until tomorrow when you can do it at 0200 in the morning. Molly didn't *know* that but how far could a woman fully preggers get?

"She went to cargo bay one. I'm sure of it. The woman is with an unborn child. Even if she is not hurt, or injured, she will be trapped. If we help her - she will help save many lives. She's a surgeon for pity's sake!"

The marines spoke to each other and she heard one of them say, "...yeah? And then what? We find her alive or dead or injured and then what? We ain't medics!"

"But I am. I'll go. I can be useful. I can help. I've been in that cargo bay before." Molly lied. She had been in that cargo bay once. And she hadn't been back in months.

The seegeant thought about it and then ordered two marines to go with her. "We're going to need to account for her anyway. It's thirteen decks. Make it quick."

Molly inwardly smiled. She had won. They called for her and gave her a wrist flashlight. "Up you go" and they were off.

In the cargo bay Kara was starting to shiver, a combination of blood loss from her wounds, and shock. As a medic she knew she had to stay awake, if she fell asleep she might not wake up.

Inside the cargo bay one of the wall conduits had been damaged. And, like a blowtorch, it was venting a stream of plasma that was under high pressure. So while it wasn't a large stream, it was powerful like a jet. It had been burning against the conduit and now was finally beginning to heat it. In the corner, about twenty feet along the wall a set of piping started to glow red. And just ten feet below that was stored a supply of oils, and cosmetics for the civilian promenade deck. Flammable and toxic. The ship shuddered again and a few crates tipped over.


TURBO SHAFT 019

Two marines led the way, then Molly and then another two marines. They climbed quickly. More and more decks were getting opened. More and more people were worriedly looking on. They kept climbing. Molly lost her footing and slipped. She screamed, a marine was right there, behind and and holding her to the ladder. "You're good. I got you. Take it slower. OK? Just look at the rung in front of you. The other guys ahead of us won't let you go past them. We're almost there."

Kara was fighting to keep her eyes open, she was running favourite songs through her head to try and stay awake. She heard a noise as a box shifted, her eyes popping open wide. “Hello!! Is there someone out there?? Help me!!”

As Damien hurried along the corridor, fighting to keep his breathing under control, he kept his eyes and ears peeled. There had to be someone around. A ship this big. He was constantly running into people. And now, the one time he wanted to find someone, he couldn't. "Bloody typical." He muttered under his breath.

As he passed by the entrance to the Cargo bay, he suddenly stopped. Straining his ears, he stepped closer. He swore he could hear something, or someone, inside. Stowing his phaser back in his belt, he said, "Computer, open Cargo Bay 1 doors."

"Unable to comply." Came the mechanical response.

"Of course you can't. Why do anything helpful." He muttered under his breath. "Mary, mother of Christ." He swore softly, before taking a deep, calming breath. "Computer, open Cargo Bay 1 doors. Authorization, Blackford-3-Delta-2." There was a small pause as the computer took his code, before there was a soft beep, and the doors partially opened with a 'swoosh'.

Stepping in, he threw his hand up in an effort to protect himself from the sudden surge of heat that blew his way. Letting out a cough, he drew his Phaser again, before slowly making his way forward. "Hello?! Is there anyone in here?" He called out.

Kara heard a voice, causing all her survival instincts to kick in. “In here! Please... help me! I’m trapped!!”

Damien spun around as he heard the voice call out. Squinting to see around the large room, he started moving in the direction of the voice. "Hello? Who's there?" He asked, his pace quickening.

“I... I’m Kara!” She shouted louder now, hearing another voice knowing she was going to be located was giving Kara the hope she needed. “I can’t move! My leg... it’s pinned!”

Damien hurried forward, calling as he did, "Alright. Just... uh.. Try and stay calm?" He rolled his eyes as he picked up the pace, groaning internally. 'Stupid advice. What else is she gonna do.' It didn't take him long to arrive at where Kara was. Surveying the situation, he took a deep breath, stowing his Phaser away again, carefully moving obstructions, then kneeling beside her. "Okay. Well, I guess the first thing we need to do is try and get your leg free."

From another side of the cargo bay, there was noise and movement. Molly and the few marines had arrived and were trying to get another set of doors open from the other end of the cargo bay. Molly, squeezing through, poked her head in and yelled, "KAAARRAAAA! DOCTOR STARRRRR!" in a loud voice as the marines picked their way through the debris and cleared a path.

Glad to be unburied Kara was doing her best to stay calm for the sake of her baby. She knew she needed medical treatment, the sooner the better. “OVER HERE!!” Kara called out as Damian was surveying the best way to get her free.

Molly heard a voice; it was Kara's! "KARA! We're coming!" and she picked up her pace. A marine that was helping move cargo out o the way noticed the small plasma fire and extinguished it with the help of another. Now that the fire was out, progress was improved. "KARA! Can you hear me?" Molly called again to try and get a new fix on Doctor Starr.

Kara recognised the voice. “OVER...HERE! WE’RE...OVER...HERE!” Kara was struggling to stay conscious, the loss of blood she was experiencing was having it’s effect. As much as she tried to stay awake she couldn’t any longer.

Molly relocated the sound of her voice and saw her, "KARA! I need help! Here she is. I found her!" Molly knelt down beside her and opened her medical tri-corder and took a look. "Kara? Doctor Starr?" Kara had fallen unconscious. Molly looked to the marines and the lone security guard, "She's pinned down. She's bleeding out. Her baby is OK. I can help stabilize her. I need this storage container moved off her legs."

Two marines lifted the storage contain off of her. Luckily, the container had simply trapped her. Injured her but hadn't crushed her. Their helmet lights and wrist lights now formed a lighted area in the gloomy darkness. And Molly, a lab technician, now was doing the best she could.

Damien dashed forward as the Marines lifted the container off of her, hooking his hands under her arms, and pulling her free. "You can drop it now." He said, having pulled her clear. Pulling his Tricorder from his belt, he quickly scanned her, running a hand through his hair. "Alright, we need to get her down to sickbay. You two," He said, pointing to two of the Marines, "Pick her up, carefully! The rest of you, start clearing a path. This place is dangerous enough without throwing an unconscious, pregnant woman into the mix. Come on people, let's move!" He said, surprising even himself with the forcefulness of his voice.

Watching them leap into action, he sighed softly, before following them toward the door.

[OFF:]