The Task at Hand
Posted on Fri Dec 22nd, 2023 @ 11:42pm by Lieutenant Callan Armidale & Lieutenant JG William Verhoeven & Fleet Captain Maxwell Culver & Commander Lorut Vila & Commander Vianola Paxidor & Lieutenant Commander Jared Rush & Commander Rylen Lyo & Lieutenant Commander Frasier Greene & Lieutenant Dovenice Nyx & Lieutenant S'Tera & Lieutenant JG Aurora House of Kor & Lieutenant Rowena "Rena" Campbell
5,290 words; about a 26 minute read
Mission:
First Contact
Location: USS Intrepid
Timeline: MD4: 1300 hours
Captain Maxwell Culver sat in the center seat of the USS Intrepid, beside him was Counselor Rena Campbell in a support role. To his right, in the XO’s chair, was Commander Rush in his role as liaison between the USS Opal and the USS Intrepid.
Completing the bridge crew, behind him and to his left was Commander Vianola Paxidor - his go-to if/when the proverbial shit hit the fan. Ahead of him were Lieutenant Commander Rylen Lyo at Ops’ main console with Lieutenant Callan Armidale to Lyo’s left as backup. Ensign William Verhoeven sat at the helm.
“Commander Vila,” Max said into the open coms channel. “We’re ready to start.”
From their perch in Stellar Cartography, Vila and S'tera prepped to move the comet. “That’s LORUT, but...Excellent, sir. We're ready when you are," she said.
“Confirmed with Opal, Cap’n. They’re prepped and standing by. One more thing, sir. The emitter frequencies of both ships have to be absolutely identical. Even the slightest deviation could result in fracturing of the comet. Moving one piece of ice is easy compared to millions of pieces weighing several kilotons each,” Rush said.
“Commander Lyo, Lieutenant Armidale, I’m going to need you to keep your eyes on deviations in the tractor beam frequencies. Adjust immediately, without asking permission, understood?”
Rylen nodded to his younger colleague, who nodded in return signaling his understanding. “We are ready.”
[Gulp. Here we go!] Aurora shivered a little from her 'hidden' perch in the corner of the Bridge as she wasn't currently needed down below.
“How are doing in Engineering, Dove?” Max asked the petite but capable woman.
"We're ready and waiting for the signal to go," Dove answered the comms from Main Engineering.
A moment later, a staticky, but decidedly male voice trilled down the line. "This is Captain Jamie Taylor of the USS Opal. Intrepid, do you read me?" A bit of noise came from his end, as his XO and Chief Intel officer both shifted around.
Vi kept a close eye on the positioning of the Opal, the Intrepid, and the comet, just in case there were any sudden things in their positioning. She had also threw out a wider net just in case someone took the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and cause some havoc.
Max shifted in his chair. “Captain Taylor, Intrepid is ready to move to position. On my mark, Opal will do the same. We will both be using low impulse as directed by Commander Rush’s plan.”
Jamie's voice came back down the line. "My people say they're on standby. On your order," he said. He could be heard yelling out. "People, look alive, it's go time," and some shuffling noises as the Opal crew moved into proper position.
’Well Hells, I guess we’re going to do this,’ Max thought very quietly. Standing from his chair, Max moved to the top of the steps. “All hands, yellow alert. I don’t expect anything to go wrong during this mission to nudge the comet, but we can never be too safe."
Until he was required, if at all, Doctor Greene occupied an observation spot at the rear of bridge to oversee the delicate task. Re-positioning a comet to avoid striking a planet was highly unusual for Starfleet, they normally remained impartial to allow nature to take its course. Though, nothing about Captain Culver was considered normal in a broad spectrum. It made the man unpredictable and potentially dangerous especially considering his knack for landing himself in sickbay recently.
“Culver to Opal initiate tractor beams now,” Max said, he hated waiting for the captain’s dramatic pauses. As if they were on some silly drama.
=/\=Yes, sir =/\= The female voice of the Opal's Engineer came down the line, and then...the tractor beam was alight. The same voice was heard on all channels. =/\=This is P'rar to Science, please advise. =/\=
Vila answered. "Please move the target point three centimeters Standard to the Right."
=/\=Yes, ma'am.=/\=
They all watched, silent, as the asteroid moved slightly.
[Oh boy oh boy oh boy!] Aurora felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise with the anticipation!
"Slowly fall back with the beam," Vila instructed. She had half the urge to close her eyes. HOPEFULLY- This worked and they wouldn't have to beam down and dynamite it.
=/\=Yes, ma'am.=/\= The Opal's Engineer replied. To Dove, Vila radioed.
=/\=Nyx. Have your team at the ready, please.=/\= Her eyes were still trained to the view screen. This was the second most interesting thing she'd ever done on a starship, and the first one she couldn't talk about.
Down in Main Engineering, Dove made a face at the comms channel, “Well, we’re not knitting sweaters down here,” she answered. She wasn’t sure if that carried over the intercom, but she hit the controls to send the “All Ready” message to the bridge once more.
*Culver, I’m reading seventeen degrees off axis. How much further?* Captain Taylor asked, still in awe at what they were doing. *My people are on high alert. Your man Rush there is an excellent asset.*
Max looked down and touched his seat console, activating the full size. “Looks like we have to make another twenty-seven degrees off its current course. Don’t play your back too quickly, Captain Taylor,” Max chided. Captain Taylor was a bit quick on the self-importance part of the mission, but they were just in the first phase.
Back in the labs, Vila nearly couldn't catch her breath. She was built for this sort of thing. Why couldn't she be XO down here?! Anyway. She turned to the rest of the science team. "We’re doing it!" she said, with a smile that radiated the room. "If we do it was because of all of YOU!"
"It looks good! We're right on target!" S'tera said.
The Kriosian Operations Chief’s fingers raced across his console, correcting for minute variations in the tractor beam emitter arrays. For the sake of efficiency and expediency, frequency controls for both vessels had been diverted to the Intrepid’s Operations console; and since Lyo was the most experienced Ops officer, control fell to him.
“Correcting for fr…” began Rylen before another reading altered his mental trajectory. “Brace for impact!” The ship lurched to port. As he righted himself in his seat, Lyo again examined incoming data. “Weapons fire! Unknown origin.” Shit! ”Tractor frequency disruption…emitters are out of sync. Powering down tractor beam.”
Vila's trained eye realized quickly something was wrong. BRACE YOURSELVES, the Bajoran shouted to S'tera and Sardeek while she gripped the table in front of her. ’What the HELL was that?!’ She felt the shakes from the ship as...MISSILES? hit it. What the HELL??! Quickly, she righted herself, and tapped her Comms badge.
"K'tal's claws! What is going on up there?" S'tera exclaimed.
Rena was watching, impressed. The mood shifted instantly, and she was on her feet in a second. She was tossed a bit but managed to catch the side of the XO's seat on her way down. As soon as she could, she got right to work to assess the others for injury. "Captain, you're hurt."
Aurora couldn't cover a yelp as she was thrown from her perch!
"What the sarsaparilla!?" Aurora sputtered, attempting to get her feet under her.
=/\=What the HELL is going on up there?=/\= Vila radioed the Bridge.
“Cap'n! One of Opal’s anodyne relays is fused. That’s what caused the emitters to go out of sync. And we have comet fragments burning up in the atmosphere below. Our joint efforts are dead in the water until we can synch up the emitters again. Do you want to send a team? Let Opal handle it on their own?” Rush asked.
Max was about to answer Commander Rush that those were secondary to being fired upon, but a second barrage shattered the moment of silence before anything could be said or thought. Max crashed down the stairs and landed between the helm and CONN stations.
From the floor, Max shouted, “Red alert! Full shields! Return fire! Target weapons and shields on the attacking vessel!”
“Turning the ship for optimal firing position, Captain,” Will said from his station before reaching a hand down to help the captain up from his awkward position. He was concerned because the CO was bleeding from a significant wound on his forehead.
“Damage reports coming in,” said Rylen coolly. Even in the midst of a crisis situation, he was an oasis of calm. “Auxiliary generators are offline. Shields will only come up to eighty eight percent. And we have a hull breach on decks nine and ten. Emergency force fields in place and holding.”
Red alert?! She needed to get up to the Bridge. "Lieutenant S'tera, do your best to keep things up down here," she said, jogging out of the Astrometric lab and to a turbolift, beside Lieutenant Wara Tête. A bit later, they appeared on the bridge and moved to their stations. "Captain! Sit down. I've seen this before." Without missing a beat, she radioed to medical. "One of you, get to the bridge, please. Culver's got a head injury."
"Alright team! Things are going foobar! Keep calm. Bridge, any chance of getting that anodyne repaired?" Stera said.
“Comms are temporarily down, Lieutenant. But based on the energy readings over there, it’s close to being repaired. They’re taking care of it on their own,” explained Rush.
"I'm already here, Commander," Greene arrived at her side having lost his footing in the initial assault. "Captain please sit still while I tend to this wound."
Max half walked, half stumbled back to the stairs, setting himself down there. He heard Doctor Greene talking as if he was underwater or in a long tunnel. A sudden bright light in his eyes and it all flashed toward. Frasier was at his right, working on some wound. The bridge was dark and the red alert klaxon sounded while the bridge was bathed in the red alert lighting.
She turned back to the men. "Have you ever heard of the Shepherds?”
Max knew that he suddenly knew what he was missing from the old Academy stories. Pike, comet…”Shepherds,” he decided and stopped himself before he nodded agreement.
“This may be one of their...uh, vehicles. I read about it the first time I had to move a comet. I was just a junior science officer, and that story was under the original Enterprise....It was almost a hundred and fifty years ago. We need to get a team there. Or let the Helivans deal with it!!" She grabbed the seat as they tumbled again, assuming it was to avoid hitting more fire.
"For Prophet's sake, Lyo, get this boat steady or I swear to the Kai that I will personally toss you out of the closest nacelle!"
[Who the who are the Shepherds!?] Aurora thought, FINALLY having found a spot to wait out the crazy ride.
Before he decided to remind the XO that throwing someone out of a nacelle was impossible because one would be vaporized by the outgoing plasma stream, Lyo changed the protocol for intraship communications and dumped all of the power from waste extraction into the thruster assemblies. The additional power boosted the systems enough to make their ride noticeably smoother.
Will looked over to the Kriosian man and offered a small smile to thank him for stabilizing the inertial dampers enough that he could move them into a clearer path of travel.
Rena sighed deeply, but sent a calming vibe towards the XO, ignoring the woman's stare. She was scanning an Ops person who had nosedived into his console. "Commander Lorut, I know you're annoyed, but no one can understand you if you're worked up. One of my Grandmother’s mentors, Miss Nyota Uhura, had been involved with that. I can see if my mother knows anything...if we have time?"
[Uhura!? THE Uhura! So totally AWESOME!] Aurora felt her eyes sparkle in a cartoon starry type way!
Feeling a lot more clearheaded, Max stood, much to Doctor Greene’s annoyance, and returned to his command chair. “Open a channel, all hailing frequencies,” Max ordered, he didn’t care who did it. “Silence the alarm and restore regular bridge lighting.”
Greene sighed, grated his teeth slightly and followed Culver to the command podium to continue treatment. Though not voicing his thoughts the Doctor was sure Max and Rena were aware of his frustrations.
Rena smiled at the Doctor, but sent a mental note to Max. ’Calm down, Greene is just trying to help.’
Vila took her seat next to the Captain, but continued on. "If I remember correctly, Captain Kirk and his crew had to literally drive the Shepards out. I don't remember how, though." Damn it, too many years of time and heavy drinking had affected her memory. It was slowly returning now that she was cutting back, but it still wasn't sharp.
[Ooookay...that sounds kinda scary!] Aurora thought nervously.
"It was Captain Pike." Vi corrected as her hands flew across her console. Targeting the Shepherd's ship was easy as it was of a considerable size. "If I remember rightly he put the ship in front of, or in the tail of the comet that forced the Shepherd's to stop firing at them. As they revered the comet they didn't want to destroy or damage it." Vianola looked at helm. "Can you get us nearer the comet? Or at least so that both the ship and comet are in their line of fire. That should give us some reprieve." She looked at the young ensign at helm once again.
“Aye Commander,” Will answered quickly and calmly. He decided he liked her, especially if this plan worked, he would like her all the more.
"Also, Pike's comet had temple in it. Have we done extensive scans of this one?" Vi looked at the science station but quickly snapped back to her own as the ship shook once more. Right now getting out of battle was more important.
Vila nodded. "Thank you," she said. "Rush?" She asked the man. "Science has done our scan; all we can tell is that there is a structure ON the comet."
Rena interrupted Dr. Greene. "If you're done with the Captain, I can use some help with the Ensign here," she said, as she bent over the poor yellow-shirted man whose head injury was severe enough that his eyes were closed and his breath was shallow.
She calmed the room again, and returned quietly to the Captain's other side. "It might be good to let Captain Taylor know what's going on..."
Greene glanced up from treating Culver toward the second injured crewmember and nodded in acknowledgement. He was almost finished tending to the Captain providing he could remain still for longer than a second.
“Have we got the Shepherds on screen yet?” Max asked, reserving the tension he was feeling in his concussed head. Someone behind him answered no. He nodded and gritted his teeth. “Commander Rush, I want the Shepherds and the the USS Opal on my screen, please?” Max reigned in the desire to do it himself. This was why he had assembled the crew he had.
Commander Rush was working frantically at his station while complying with the Captain’s request. “Some interference from a little ionic radiation. Clearing it up, now, sir. There ya go. On screen, Cap’n,” Rush said.
“Commander Lorut, Lieutenants S’tera and Aurora, now that we know who they are, explain to me the similarities between the comets and the buildings hitching a ride on each comet,” Max asked above the din of overhead sparks and EPS conduits blowing out.
Vila sighed, but nodded. "Lieutenant S'tera is still down in the labs," she said. She tapped her coms. =/\= Lieutenant S'tera, please report to the bridge. =/\= She waited for Aurora to be a little closer. "From what I remember in my reading, and it's, admittedly, not much, the difference is that the comet is essentially their control station," she said, quietly.
This would be the first time that Culver would see her this serious. "I don't remember them being called Temples, but I do remember that Pike and his people had to, essentially, promise not to meddle. It DID work out, though. Turns out these "Shepards" are benevolent." She indicated that S'tera should add something at that time.
"Acknowledged. On my way!" with that S'tera headed up to the bridge. "So, what's the situation?" she said as soon as she got there.
"I need your input about these so-called "Temples" on the comet. As I was explaining to the Captain, the comet is, essentially, their vehicle, and the temples are...well, where they live," she said. She looked to S'tera for confirmation.
"So it would seem. Captain Pike and the Enterprise first encountered them way back when. But according to our info, these Shepherds are religious fanatics. They don't even remember who started it, but they Shepherd the comet around, whatever comet they are hooked to. Now this does complicate things as we need to divert that comet but they don't want to let us!"
Aurora felt bad for not being up to speed on the Shepherds, and vowed to get caught up as soon as she could get access to the library's old files.
“Medical, clear the bridge. Anyone who’s been harmed by this firefight takes precedence over anything else. “Rena, call in the next shift for replacements at any empty stations please.” Max didn’t understand why, but his neurons were firing rapidly. His headache and concussion already gone, but not just from Frasier’s ministrations. Evolving a plan as the crew danced a delicate ballet of duties behind him.
"Yes, sir," the Counselor replied, settling into a console, and issuing the order via her COMMS system.
"On it," Greene acknowledged opting to transport himself and his patient to sickbay where he could be attended to correctly.
“Commander Lyo and Ensign Verhoeven, good job keeping us between the Shepherds and their ‘precious’.” The ship hadn’t taken another blow since they’d moved between the Shepherds and the comet.
“Lieutenant Nyx, I need all repairs focused on engines and the tractor beam,” Max issued his last order before they were ready to handle the religious zealots with, frankly, a lot of firepower. It reminded Max of his pre-World War III world views that lead to the end of that life for humanity and a new way after the last Great War.
Max looked at the damaged bridge of the Opal, though it had fared far better than Intrepid. “Captain Taylor, have you ever heard of a game called tug-of-war?”
Jamie was commanding his crew like Culver was his. "Engineering, dump all available power to the core, keep us steady. Ops, damage reports." He said. He turned to the viewscreen. "Old Earth game, I am familiar. One side pulls a rope against an opposing team. As many are left standing after a certain amount of time wins," he said. His Vulcan XO was giving him some side-eye but he ignored him.
“Well, we’re going to reverse the polarity of our tractor beam; you’ve already won because we’re simply gonna push the comet while you pull it!” Max smiled brightly. “Your ship in front, ours in the back and they don’t have the balls to shoot at either of us!” The plan was daft at best, at worst they were all dead and it wouldn’t matter either way.
Jamie scratched his head. "With respect, Culver, that sounds like a suicide mission. I won't allow my people to be put in that position," he said.
A female voice from the Opal piped up. “Sir, I think you're reading far too much into it. What he's proposing is the most sound idea I've heard batted around so far.” The woman's face appeared, a young-ish blonde science officer.
Jamie considered a moment, and after a quick back and forth with the XO, he turned back to Max. "Alright. I'll have my people get on it," he said. If anyone died, he wanted on the record that this was Culver's idea and that, for once, he wasn't the reckless one.
“Good deal. Taylor, if this goes south, get your ship and people out of here. We’ve got the guns and shields.” Max meant every word. Also, even though Taylor had doubts, Max had tactical superiority, he was THE Captain.
Looking over his shoulder, Max caught sight of Rush. He looked battered, but who didn’t? “Jared, get down to the tractor control room. Reverse the polarity of the beam and we can shove this rock right up the Shepherd’s asses. Commander Ripley will meet you there,” Max completed as he finished texting the task to Chet.
“It will be my singular pleasure, sir. I’ll signal when we’re ready,” Rush said as he darted off the bridge.
’Just one last thing,’ Max thought. He touched his console, now sitting in his chair, THE captain’s chair. All the great captains always did one last thing.
On the view screen, an alien appeared. Smallish, greenish with large eyes and a breathing device. “You subvert the path of Ah’man Ah?” the Shepherd asked in a rather booming voice.
“Yeah, here’s the deal…your holy comet is destroying life on the nearby planet called Heliv. Our history with you informs us of your fanaticism over these rocks and ice chunks, but ya know what…?”
There was a rather long, quiet pause before Max resumed. “We don’t really give a shit about fanaticism when it threatens the life of the species.”
The alien grumbled. “Our scans show a sparse population and several ships have fled for new borders. You have no claim on this planet. Ah’man Ah will continue without interference.”
“Or what?!” Max asked, growing coldly serious. “We’ve damaged your shields and weapons. It was, in fact, pretty easy. Aside from that, we know you won’t shoot while we’re near this comet…”
“Ah’man Ah, intruders!” Only we have followed Ah’man Ah for millennia in our sacred task to complete the journey. Ah’man Ah’s does not end today.”
“The task has been long, but it ends here at Heliv. It ends today, Shepherds!” Max said proudly, feeling strange - changed in this moment but he was present in it as well. He cut the alien off his screen, but not before some look as though the Shepherd had seen someone on the bridge.
“Lock the tractor beam on these new coordinates, Mister Lyo,” Max ordered. He activated some kind of new harness on his seat, to prevent falls, then decided he hated it immediately. “Keep us station ready Commander Lorut.”
Vila had already opened her console screen, typing away furiously. "Ready," she said. Focused, nearly scarily so, she was ready to go.
“Initiate the tractor beam. Commander Lorut, you’ll need to be eyes on the Opal,” Max ordered.
She nodded. "Yes, sir," she said, bringing up the view screen on the XO's panel. Both the internal and external views of the USS Opal were in front of her.
Ah’man Ah moved as the ship strained, pushing hard against the load while the USS Opal pulled from the other side.
“How far have we moved it, Ensign Verhoeven?” Max asked the helmsman.
“Maybe fifteen thousand kilometers Captain. This is going to take a long time, sir…” Will answered, the strain in his voice obvious.
“Alright, we’ll just keep going like this until,” Max was interrupted by a sharp noise issuing from the viewscreen. Edited and amplified so that the silent rent in the comet could be heard. A catastrophic failure of their mission to move the comet sounded on the bridge.
“Report?” Max asked.
"They're pushing back," Vila said. "The Shepards, I mean," she said. =/\=Opal, bring yourselves fifteen centimeters to the starboard flank=/\= she said. The other ship maneuvered slightly. "Lyo, match them," she said, and waited for the Ops officer to follow.
“Aye,” said Lyo carefully as his fingers raced across the console, making minuscule adjustments to power outputs. The procedure took only seven seconds; the adjustments were so fine and precise that less experienced Ops officers might have missed the mark.
Once they were in place, Vila looked up. "I made it look like we might be backing down a bit..." She might be many things, but she knew a bit about tactical warfare, and she also knew how these folks operated from her research. "Try again." She looked at Culver. "Our last ditch can be going down there, you know."
“Our last ditch isn’t putting my people in danger,” Max answered back. “We can always pull out of this maneuver, but I can’t guarantee getting anyone off that comet, not after reading Pike’s mission report. These people are prepared to kill for their beliefs.”
Vila raised an eyebrow. "It's been one hundred fifty years," she said. "Technology has improved. I'll go myself," she said, challenging him. "It was the way that continued communication was established, as well, I'll remind you," she said, coolly. "I am not one of "your people," she said.
“You’ll take your station, Commander Lorut, or you’ll take a seat in the brig for insubordination and refusing orders. No one is going to that comet right now.”
Vila considered, turning away, but was interrupted by the Counselor. "Ma'am, can I see you a moment? I need…help," she said. She spoke hushed to the XO. "I agree that going in person may be a smarter move than what the Captain has planned. But let him try. And fail. It's always better to savor a victory, right?" Vila considered a moment. She had misjudged Campbell. "I suppose you're right," she said. A moment later, she moved to her seat.
Rena stood, and moved to the Captain's left-hand side.
"Quit baiting Lorut; she's not wrong. It IS an option, and I think she meant she'd go solo. With respect...I hope this works," she said to him. So far, he hadn't let her down, but he'd come CLOSE.
“I’m not baiting her. Captain Pike barely got his people off the other comet. It was only because Uhura and Spock were smart enough to figure out the mathematics to bring down the comet’s shields.”
Max paused and looked directly at Rena. “Being on that comet only pissed off the Shepherds more. So no, Commander Lorut is not going there, alone or otherwise.” He was clear in both words and aura that this was not open for debate.
“Helm adjust 0.09 to starboard,” Max ordered after turning his attention back to their duty. For the moment it would smooth their ride significantly and leave them in a better position to keep pushing the comet.”
From his holographic console, Max watched as Shepherds adjusted their position. He was waiting to see if they were moving to attack the Opal. When it was clear they wouldn’t, Max wanted another opinion. “Commander Paxidor, what do you think they’re up to?”
"Possibly getting into a better position to try and take us off the board." Vi responded looking at their positioning. "If they move to the right angle they won't be in danger of hitting their 'precious' as you put it." She began to bolster the shields a touch on the side the Shepherds were moving to. "It's what I'd do... if I can't get you from an angle that benefits me, I'll just move. However low yield their weapons may be if they fire enough of them they will damage our shields."
“Someone get me Commander Rush, he and Commander Ripley should be done by now!” Max ordered from his replacement officer, who seemed up to his armpits in following the situation.
“Rush here!” acknowledged Jared after getting hailed from the bridge.
“Polarity reversed, Cap’n! We can use the tractor beam like a comet slingshot. Targeting won’t be perfect, but if you want it in the ballpark, so to speak, say the word. We will definitely get the Shepherds attention.”
Aurora had managed to stay hidden on the bridge even after the Captain'd told medical to clear it.
[This is so dang CRAZY!] Aurora thought, her eyes round with wonder.
For Max, time seemed to slow to a crawl. “Reverse the polarity on the tractor beams on my mark,” he ordered, feeling a thousand miles away.
Someone, probably Jared Rush acknowledged the order. Max adjusted his buckle as it cut into his abdomen. Something he thought he might take up with engineering later. “Have the Opal ready to engage at full impulse on my mark as well.”
“Aye, aye, Cap’n.” The response registered as definitely Rush due to the pronunciation of captain and the Southern drawl.
Max’s fingers tightened as he announced, “Mark!”
Instantly, he knew something went wrong. All about him, electrical sparks showered down, consoles exploded and the lights on the bridge went dark. A terrible sound, like the ship had been torn in two filled every quiet area it could. Max jerked forward in the dark, a sign that the ship had stopped forward motion entirely. An acrid smell assaulted his sense of smell, the build up of electrical smoke.
And then it was over.
Max unclasped himself from the seat and moved to the CONN where he checked the young ensign’s pulse. He was alive. Using the ensign’s console, Max confirmed the ship was still one piece with very little actual damage.
He checked to see if they had attained their goal, moving the comet from hitting Heliv, but oddly, they had not. Instead, small rock fragments were starting to fall into the upper atmosphere, along with the smaller bits of ice. Effectively, from what he could tell, the comet had been shattered and scattered over Heliv.
The bridge lights resumed their normal brightness…Max watched as medical personnel rush onto the bridge and he helped as they moved the injured crew.
With the comet destroyed and with its smaller pieces slowly making their way down through the atmosphere, the ice would rejuvenate the planet’s water loss after being towed out of its natural orbit. The stone pieces were small enough that they no longer posed a threat to the planet below and might even bring new metals.
If the “temple” had survived, they wouldn’t know until ship repairs were completed and power reserved for repairing the damage done could be turned to their sensors. Or, considering the USS Opal seemed undamaged, maybe they could find it…and maybe those Shepherds while they were at it. Perhaps they had been destroyed in whatever had happened that sent the USS Intrepid tumbling away from the entire event?
There were enough questions. For now, Max was happy they would still have time to answer them.
‘Just…not today,’ he thought wearily.
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