Samuel's Story - In the eye of the beholder...

[gengrant]

Introduction:

It was 6 months after the fall of the Dominion and the Cardassian Empire, regardless of the fact the Cardassian’s turned to help in the end against their Dominion; they were still all but destroyed during the war. Though a surrender was signed, not all Cardassian’s followed suit, dozens of ships fled the area and began to rebuild their own forces, fulfilling their needs by pirate actions and rouge like tactics. The USS Bull Run, an Excelsior Class Federation Starship, was assigned a patrol route of the Cardassian Demilitarized Zone to ensure that there were no incursions into Federation Space by these ‘rouge’ elements.

Although Cardassia’s official statements said that they were unaware and did not support the groups, Starfleet Command didn’t believe it and was concerned that they could easily be rebuilding a fleet for another war, maybe within a few years. The patrol duties were excepted to help remind them that Starfleet wasn’t done, and could still fulfill their duties.

[gengrant]

Chapter One: Draw…

“You know, we’ve been playing every Saturday for this entire tour and you still think your bluffing is good enough to beat me.” said Sam with a laugh, he reached across the table, laid his full-house down, and retrieved his winnings. Lieutenant Junior Grade Samuel Joshua Grant, Chief of Security aboard the Excelsior Class Starship USS Bull Run, was very young for his position; only 24 yrs old. But where he lacked in years, he more then made up for in energy and belief in his work.

“Argh…” replied the young Ensign Tucker he was playing against “I swear, playing against you security people is a real pain.”

“This may be true, but hey, we all have our specialties.” They both laughed, along with the two others that were playing. They had been playing for over two hours, and decided to call it a night. The group shook hands and headed off to their quarters, Sam decided he’d go for a stroll.

As he often did, all the time, Sam walked through the decks and all adjoining public spaces to just make sure all was well. He crawled through a couple of the Jefferies Tubes and gladly didn’t find any problems. After about an hour he found himself on the bridge, checking in with the ‘night shift’ Tactical Officer. As the Ready Room doors opened, he saw Commander Tucket exit them, giving Sam an undignified look.

Commander Hiliford D. Tucket wasn’t a big man; not in body size or personality. But in name he was known as Vice Admiral Tucket’s number one and only son. Vice Admiral Tucket was a big shot at Starfleet Headquarters back on Earth, he’d been assigned to a ‘desk’ after a failed, and unnecessary, assault on a Borg ship that was discovered near the border of Breen controlled territory. Knowing he’d never command a ship again, he hopped his Son would bring back some of the glory to his name. Commander H. D. Tucket was the First Officer aboard the Bull Run, he’d been assigned the post only 3 months ago. Sam barely new him, but hated him. He new that smug, cocky, ‘nobility’ look that the Commander wore; it was the look that he knew caused good people to die for no reason.

“Good evening Commander.” Sam said professionally, regardless of what he thought of him, he was still the 1st Officer. “Sam.” He said curtly; he never did try and be anything but what he was, a liability… “Any problems to report?” Sam shook his head “No Commander, all is well at this time.” Commander Tucket sat down in the Captain’s Chair, ordered a drink and crossed his legs. “Well, then I think your business on the Bridge is concluded; Good Evening…” Slightly looking over his shoulder “Sam…”

The thought of drawing his phaser and putting an end to the torment made him smile, even with the insult. The looks on the other bridge crews faces were of confusion, they weren’t sure what to think, but Sam always kept them guessing; an insult like that would normally have crushed a young officer; being removed from the bridge was a big deal. But Sam smiled, made a finishing comment to the Tactical Officer and exited the Bridge.

Sam continued his walk, primarily trying to walk off the frustration and anger broiled up within him by Commander Tucket. He found himself in Main Engineering, all the engineers looked very busy, so Sam stepped out of the way. He was no engineer, but he noticed they were replacing some conduits in the sensor system that appeared to have blown out, not wanting to cause trouble, Sam turned to exit Engineering.

As he turned, he was jabbed in the side under the ribs and shoved back at least a meter “Bang your dead!” came a voice as he recomposed himself, a young women’s voice. “Now now Sammy, you let your guard down like that you’re liable to get killed; I won’t always be around to help you.”

Sam smiled, a warm smile, “Jennifer… What did I tell you about doing that?” All of the sudden, Sam felt at ease; no anger, no pain, no fatigue, nothing but warm happiness. He looked at her and just smiled again. Chief Jennifer Emily Young, Assistant Engineer aboard the Bull Run; but better known as the ‘Fire of Sam’s eye’.

She was a beautiful women, only 23, she had charged through Starfleet Academy in only two years, enough to graduate, but stayed in and completed the remaining two years receiving two doctorates and the posting of her choice. Her best legacy was proving the Senior Engineering Instructor, a Bolian, wrong on one of his pass/fail test questions; resulting in 107 student’s grades having to be reversed. The thought of their blue face turning read with anger and embarrassment always brought everyone to tears laughing when she told the story.

Her long red hair came down to her lower back, just below her uniform tunic. Her blue eyes, to him at least, always seemed to burn hotter then a plasma fire behind her squared glasses. Her smile, and her laughter, would confuse a Klingon and scare a Borg, but was the sweetest music he could ever here; Sam always said that if the engines didn’t work, her voice could would provide a survivable atmosphere in space and allow him to get out and push the ship home. She was his equal, is other half, his opposite. But their relationship was only semi official. A lot of the male crew chased her, but for some unknown reason she fell for Sam, he didn’t know why.

Smiling, “Okay okay, you got me, but why should I be on Red Alert status on my own ship, it’s not like a Borg drone is gonna just appear and assimilate me, or the like.” Not the best defense argument, he thought, but it was all he could come up with.

“That may be true their ‘Chief’, but how are you gonna fight something if little ol’ me can sneak up on you on your own ship?” she said, her smile infecting him completely. Sam just shook his head and looked at the floor, lost for words. What an emotional roller coaster he was having, one minute playing cards, the next dealing with that pain of a Commander and now speaking with an angel.

“Simple” Sam started, looking up from the floor “Resistance is futile!” Jennifer raised an eyebrow and then laughed, slapping his shoulder. “Still on for tomorrow right?” she asked “Breakfast, 0730, you got it.” Sam replied. He nodded as he turned to walk away, she winked; then Sam tripped and dropped his PADD.

Deciding that he ought to get at least 2 hours of sleep, he’d head back to his quarters and lay down. On the way back, coming out of Cargo Bay 3, was the Captain. “Ah, Lt., how are you at this late hour… speaking of which, what are you doing up at this hour son?” asked Captain Macharius.

Captain Robert L. Macharius, Captain of the Bull Run for 20 years. He was a lifer, he’d been in Starfleet for 55 years; he’d seen his share of service. At the age of 83, he was thought to be retiring shortly, but Sam new better. The Captain had fought against the Klingons, Cardassians, Borg; if it was in the Alpha Quadrant, you could bet he’d been on the receiving end of their weapons at least twice. He had served with Sam’s father years ago, and when he found out that Sam graduated Starfleet Academy, specifically requested him aboard the Bull Run. The Captain was a hard ass when needed, but also truly cared for his crew, from the lowest enlisted man up to the his 1st Officer; the latter being unfortunate but Sam didn’t hold it against him. For his age, the Captain still had a commanding presence and was as sharp as a Batl’eth, you couldn’t guess his age by looking at him if you tried.

“Actually Sir,” replied Sam “I was gonna ask you the same thing, followed by what were you doing in the Cargo Bay?” Sam really respected the Captain, he was a fine officer, but a better Man; he didn’t know of any.

“Are you asking in a personal capacity or a professional capacity Lt.?” His eyes locked with Sam’s, an inner shutter taking Sam through the spine. He’d played poker against the Captain, once, at an officers club some months back; worst card beating Sam ever had, you couldn’t read his face if you tried. That fact alone made him an excellent Bridge Officer, as he didn’t need to fight his way out of things, he only needed to say he would and it was enough.

Sam wasn’t sure how to respond, he just stared blankly for a moment, a smile coming over his face “Both, Sir.” As he crossed his arms, returning the look.

The Captain didn’t flinch, he just stared. He was 4x his age, but Sam knew he didn’t have a chance. Macharius just laughed, breaking the silence “Officially I was making an inspection of this deck, I’m the Captain, I get to do that you know… Lieutenant.” The Captain took a few steps closer and shook Sam’s hand, “Unofficially I’m stirring.”

Sam perked up immediately, the Captain had a 6th sense for bad situations, and he was often very accurate. Looking around to make sure the chances of other crew hearing them speak was minimal, which it was, he replied “I was afraid you’d say that. Did she tell ya anything?” It wasn’t a joke; Captain Macharius said that space had a way of talking to you, confiding in people when something was a rye. If you were close enough to it, you could hear its whispers. The Cargo Bay would be the best spot around, as you could open the doors and only you and the force field would separate you. Unfortunately, the Captain only grunted and shook his head. Sam sighed, and the two started walking down the corridor. “None the less Sir, I’ll pass along to the security details to keep an extra eye out just incase, couldn’t hurt.”

Captain Macharius looked back “You know, you’re a good man Samuel; I don’t care what Commander Tucket says about you.” an ever so small hook grin appeared on his face at the jab.

“With all do respect Sir, neither do I.” they both laughed. The Captain knew how much of a pain the Commander was, but the fact was that he was who he was, and orders were orders. He had to adhere to them as much as everyone.

The Captain stopped and lowered his voice a bit “True or not, regardless, be careful not to say such things to loudly Samuel.” his voice almost taking on a fatherly tone. “He is still the 1st Officer aboard this ship, don’t forget it.”

Sam shrugged off the comment, he knew the Captain was only being the Captain, and it wasn’t anything serious. Sam simply replied “Aye Sir.” they continued walking through the corridors. Once to the turbo lift, the Captain got on and headed off to his quarters “Good night Samuel, try and get some rest will ya, we both can’t be exhausted at the same time.”

Sam continued down the corridor a bit more, his mind distracted by both what the Captain had said and his thoughts of Jennifer. Tapping his combadge “Chief Grant to Security, increase status to condition 2 beta until further notice, notify gamma shift to come on duty early.” He received the acknowledgements and continued on about his business.

As he rounded another corner, thoughts of Jennifer bombarded his mind, his thoughts. He thought about her red hair, acting like a beacon against the stars. He had completely fallen for her and was absolutely distracted when she was around, it was an odd way to see him, as he was always so calm and collected; but he didn’t care. He was happy, he had the position he wanted and enjoyed aboard a damn good ship, under a good Captain, the Dominion War was over and the company of a beautiful women; what more could he ask for? He thought to himself. It didn’t even concern him to much that the Bull Run had been assigned patrol duty along the Cardassian DMZ after the War, by all Starfleet accounts the Cardassians weren’t a threat to anyone after their stinging defeat.

Down the corridor was his quarters, only a few meters away, lost deep in thought. But Sam never saw it coming, nobody did, but Sam never made it to his quarters; with only a nanosecond of a bright red flash; all went black.

[gengrant]

Chapter Two: Darkness

The pain was sharp and fierce, his eyes stung, his mind raced. He felt buried alive, unable to move, he tried looking around, but all was black and blurred. There was no sound, nothing, which he found odd; only a constant ringing that drowned everything out. He tried to blink his eyes clear, but it didn’t have much effect, he still couldn’t hear anything. Thinking he was dead, Sam felt very sad, defeated. He felt that what he thought occurred at death was all a lie, that there was nothing after life. But, he then remembered that he felt pain, which had to mean he was alive.

He tried to speak, yell, to shout, but it just caused him to cough; which he spitted something up. He could taste it, very irony; “Blood?!” he thought, he had to still be alive or the afterlife was truly not what he believed. His vision began to clear, ever slowly, the darkness was illuminated, partially, by an intermittent red light. His hearing began to come back to him, the ringing replaced with a pulsing buzzing sound.

Just as he thought he was figuring out what was wrong, everything around him shook and he was knocked along the base of where he was, pain shooting across his back; now he was having a hard time breathing. His breath coming in short, difficult gasps. Still not sure what was going on, he couldn’t move any more then he could before to help himself.

But as the breaths became more painful, he heard voices, they were getting louder.

“Over here!” shouted one of them, he couldn’t see who spoke but knew they were fairly close. “Bring the med-kit!” Another shadow appeared near him as he lay there “Damn, it’s the Chief!” said another voice.

Feeling something on his neck, and the pressure removed from his back, he found himself dragged across the corridor a few meters and placed up against the wall. He saw the people that helped, two crew members; a young science ensign and one of his security officers, an Ensign Chucklem. He listened to them talk, and noticed the ensign in blue was using a medical tri-corder checking him over. Sam was feeling better, with breath coming normally and some of the pain subsiding; he figured they’d had given him a hypo spray of some kind. Feeling his strength return, he looked as his Officer “Report, Ensign.” His voice was scratchy, but understandable, he had no idea how long he’d been down there. That being when he finally realized he didn’t know where ‘down there’ actually was, he looked over where had had been dragged from and saw a large pile of debris, from a wall that had given way during whatever was going on; he had been buried.

The world shook around him again as Ensign Chucklem tried to catch him up on what was going on “Best guess Sir, we’re under attack.” He began, before being cut off.

“What do you mean ‘best guess’, don’t you know what is going on?” Sam’s environment made more sense now, the red lights and the buzzing sounds were the Red Alert Klaxons sounding, everything shook again.

“No we don’t” started the Ensign again, keeping his footing during the shaking “Ensign Getter here and I were down in Cargo Bay 1 reviewing a problem with the fire suppression system when the Red Alert sounded; there has been no announcement of what is going on. We were headed to our duty stations when we came upon you laying here, Sir.”

Sam tried to stand, taking in what he was being told. If what they were saying was true, he had only been down for a matter of minutes; although his body would differ with that assessment. As he was helped to his feet, there was another shutter followed by an explosion just down the corridor from them; sparks darted out from the consoles and sections of the ceiling collapsed. He wasn’t an engineer, but he knew it was bad. “We’re taking a hell of a pounding, the shields must be down.” He tried to listen to the surrounding sounds “We’re not firing back either, what the hell is going on up there.”

He looked around, the two young ensigns looking at him for reassurance “Alright, well we’re not helping anybody here, you get to your posts, I’m gonna try heading to the Bridge and see what’s going on. Now move!” The two ensigns nodded and took off on a run. He proceeded over to the closet turbo lift and headed up to the bridge. The turbo lift stalled a few decks short, so Sam had to climb up the shaft the last 50 meters, almost falling several times.

Stepping out onto the Main Bridge was literally like walking into a war zone. Everywhere he looked, Sam saw casualties and smelled burning smoke, heard the screams and the cries of the wounded and the silence of the dead. Yet above it all, he heard one voice, a voice he recognized and knew was regaining control; The Captain was on the bridge. Sam stumbled over to the Tactical Station and glanced briefly, most of the display had been blown out. Again, and again the ship rocked from the impact of weapons fire. Reading what he could, he tried to gather what was going on.

“Engineering, I need Main Power back online, we’re a sitting duck up here! Where’s my power?!” yelled the Captain. It was a sight to see, even as other crew members were being knocked around, the Captain just sat in his chair as calmly as if he was on Risa; as calm as can be. “Weapon Status, were are my shields and phasers?!”

Realizing that there wasn’t anyone at tactical, the officer having been killed when the display exploded, Sam knew it was up to him until additional personnel arrived. “Shields off-line, without Main Power, we’re barely able to keep the deflectors up. Weapons are off-line as well, phaser emitters on both the primary and secondary arrays are fried, Torpedo Bay’s 2 and 4 destroyed, 1 and 3 are operational but no response from the compartments.” Sam continued to try and work the panels, as the Captain continued to give orders.

“Sam, what are you doing up here, I thought I told you to get some rest?” responded Captain Macharius, the helm station exploded and knocked out the officer that was there. There were medics on the bridge that were attending to the wounded and were very busy, another officer took the helm. “No shields, no weapons… I don’t suppose you could through a rock at them could you Sam?”

“Just get me close enough Sir!” replied Sam. He felt better knowing the Captain still wasn’t worried; the Bull Run was a tuff ship.

The Captain was reviewing information from the center chair “Operations, status!”

The officer at the Operations console shouted back “Engines are down, heavy damage to the port nacelle and hull breaches on decks 10-17; force fields engaged but draining desperately needed power. There are fires and casualties all across the ship, and we’re still under repeated weapons fire. Without sensors, we’re blind as a bat.”

Sam worked the keys on the console to try and get an idea of what was going on out there, there was no information available. Who ever hit them knew where and how hard, as almost all the critical systems had been crippled. Sam worked hard to analyze the weapons discharge readings, trying to figure out at least who was attacking them; but he wasn’t having much luck.

The ship shook again, and again, and again. Sam pounded the console in frustration, but obviously had no effect. The Operations Console exploded knocking the officer out of his seat and unconscious on the floor, a small fire began to rage. Sam began to see some success as he worked the console, he motioned for the science officer to come help him; which she did.

Smoke began to fill the bridge, as damage crews worked to put out the fire. The Captain activated the communications link again “Engineering, where is my power?!”, but there was no response. The Captain called again, and a third time, but he received only static. Sam’s stomach sank, and his blood ran cold. Were they all dead? Was it just a problem with the communications like everything else? Maybe… But his thoughts were interrupted, and he regained his constitution.

“Young here Sir, the Commander’s dead and I don’t really have the time to talk right now; just give me a moment.” Replied the young Chief, Sam felt better already knowing not only she was alive, but that she was working on the problem; she’d get it.

Working with a renewed vigor, they were able to make some headway at least regarding who was shooting at them. Double checking his information before speaking out “Captain, their Cardassians!”, he slammed his hand on the console again. He stared stunned, at the Captain, who not even flinched but a smile passed across his face, he simply replied “Figures.” The ship rocked again, the tactical console shooting sparks, knocking Sam backwards and burnings his hand.

“Captain, additional hull breaches and fires; she can’t take much more of this!” barked the seasoned helmsmen, trying with all his might to keep the Bull Run turned out of the attacking ships line of fire with only maneuvering thrusters.

Captain Macharius just sat in his chair, it was the damndest thing Sam ever saw, so cool under fire, so calm and collected. But what could he door without weapons, without shields, there was no way to win, the Cardassians wouldn’t return survivors; everyone was dead and he had to know it. But he just looked at the view screen, and his scanners, even though they weren’t showing anything, replying to the helmsmen “She’s a tough ship, she’ll hold.”

It was about this time that Sam noticed that he wasn’t hearing Commander Tucket’s voice confirming the Captain’s orders. Sam looked down at the 1st officers chair and saw the Commander gripping the hand rests, he appeared as if he was on the verge of breaking out screaming. Sam laughed “Nobility, pfft.” he mumbled under his breath. It was at this time, he began to hear systems powering up and the consoles began to come to life.

“Young to Bridge, you’ve got some power, now do something with it while I try and make it last!” came Jennifer’s voice. Sam looked at his console, she wasn’t kidding, there were power to weapons and shields, scanners and force fields, but not a lot. As the different systems began to drain on the power that was available, there were occasional gains were more power was being provided.

Captain Macharius slapped his knee “Hot Damn, she’d make a warp core out of a rock and a stick; I swear!” he jeered, as he shot out of the chair and looked right back at Sam “What’ya got son?!”

Sam looked down at the console “You name it we have, their not at 100% though.” Sam continued to disperse power as they spoke.

“Status Report!” ordered the Captain, the ship rocked again, but not nearly as badly as before.

“Shields overall restored, holding at 45% and dropping. Dorsal, Starboard and Aft Phaser Arrays destroyed, but have rerouted power to the emitters through auxiliary systems and the replicators… Torpedo tubes 1 and 3 are coming back on line; casualties reported in the tube bays. Force fields on hull breaches holding and have been reinforced, we’re no longer venting plasma or have compartments exposed to space. Scanners are running at about 60% efficiency, all things considered, but weapon scanners are iffy at best. Engines are on emergency back up power, appear to be running off the batteries as the warp core is off line; and a partridge in a pear tree… Sir.” Sam said, staying calm under fire.

The Captain, he just smiled, as turned back to look at his instruments. “Now we can return the favor, get me a target Lt.!” he ordered.

At that time, everyone on the Bridge realized the same thing at the same time. Sam was just the unlucky one who got to report it. “Sir!” Sam took in a deep breath, his newly regained confidence all of the sudden shaken by what he saw. “There are five of them; Galor class attack cruisers. They’ve got us surrounded putting extensive pressure on all of our shields, not allowing us to transfer power; we’re pinned.”

Yet again, the Captain didn’t seem to care, he just began issuing orders. “Helm, attack angle Lima 9, Beta 4. Operations, keep the shields up. Tactical, Sam, fire at will!” The ship shook again. The enemies compressor phasers were doing considerable damage, but it was their plasma torpedoes that were packing the walloup.

“Aye Sir, firing phasers and torpedoes!” he barked back, as the Bull Run came to life and did an end over roll passed the Port Galor, unleashing a volley of aimed, as much as possible that is, Quantum Torpedoes and phaser fire. The phasers drained a lot of the Galor’s shields but the Torpedoes, 2 of the 5 fired in such rapid succession, hit home. Large plumes of green and orange fire erupted from the aft of the Galor. It may be 5 – 1 odds, but the Galors were not the strongest ships in the galaxy, were as the Bull Run was an Excelsior Class Starship; built for a fight.

With a cheer across the bridge, even a fist pump by the Captain himself, the Bull Run had drawn blood, and the battle was joined.

[gengrant]

Chapter Three: Out of the pan, into the fire

The small section of space lite up like a fireworks display of years past, with phaser fire passing each other in all directions, Cardassian gold and Starfleet red, dozens of torpedoes flying through space, the bright orange and yellows of explosions; it created a beautiful but eerie scene.

The Bull Run’s repair and reengagement into the fight had caught the Cardassians flat footed, but this didn’t surprise the Captain at all; Cardassians were known to be superbly overconfident in everything. However it didn’t take long for them to rally, during the initial confusion though the Bull Run made them pay for their overconfidence. Scoring a killing blow on one of the Galor’s, their first target, a concentrated phaser hit knocked the aft section of the ship clean off, rupturing their warp core causing the ship to explode. Debris slammed into all of the ships due to their close proximity, unfortunately doing heavy damage to the starboard nacelle of the Bull Run.

As the exchange continued, the Bull Run fought like a cornered beast; but she was outnumbered and they knew it.

The helmsmen was doing a good job of keeping the attackers off balance, but only so much could be accomplished on maneuvering thrusters. The ship shook, violently, knocking most of the bridge crew off their feet on the ground; even Captain Macharius lost his footing. At the same time, both the engineering and the science stations blew out on the bridge, inflicting serious injuries on the crew that were monitoring them.

”Engineering to bridge!” came that familiar voice again “That’s all she wrote Captain, the starboard nacelle just blew out completely and sent a power surge back through the lines; melting the batteries. Best we got is minimal life support and enough power to only keep some of the force fields up; we’re dead in the water.” Chief Young reported. Sam could tell the defeat in her voice, if there was a way to get power up, she would have found it.

The voices on the bridge grew quiet, there wasn’t much to say. Sam fired the last phaser shot he could before the system died completely. The consoles began to shut down and the lighting faded as the power loss spread throughout the ship. Emergency back-ups were providing the most minimal light that Sam could ever have imagined, it wasn’t light nor completely dark. The Bull Run rocked hard, as it was hit by a volley of plasma torpedoes with no shield protection, again putting the bridge crew on the deck from the jarring. Almost as soon as the shipped jarred to port, it snapped back to starboard; a massive decompression somewhere on the ship caused by the torpedoes.

Sam could tell by looking around at the faces of the bridge crew that they were all dead, it wasn’t a matter of if, but only when. Would it be the next compressor shot, a torpedo, or a warp core breach, or maybe it would be from an explosive decompression; hell if Samuel knew. He could almost feel the frozen tipped, boney fingers of death preparing to grab his neck; he wondered if he’d feel any pain.

It was as if his brain had grown its own arms, as the left side of his brain ‘slapped’ the right side of his brain, his focus returning and his Starfleet duty kicking in. They weren’t dead until they were, and as far Sam could tell, he wasn’t dead yet. Surveying the Bridge, or rather what was left of it, he noticed that Captain Macharius was standing in the center of the bridge, looking intently at the view screen; although it displayed no image.

“Captain, I was able to get a distress signal out, but our last scans showed the closet Starfleet vessel at least 10 hrs away…” reported an officer from the Operations Station. There was some comfort in the knowing that a message was sent out, for if the Bull Run should fall, at least Starfleet would be able to enact revenge on the attackers when they arrived.

It was when the officer reported to the Captain that Sam realized he had missed something, and it was what the Captain was listening too… Or rather not. For it wasn’t just the bridge crew that was quiet, everything was quiet. After the large explosion that sent them all to the floor, there was silence. There was no more shooting, no more explosions, no more rocking, only the sound of the Red Alert klaxons sounding, and some electrical wiring shorting.

There was no point in trying to scan the area to see if the Cardassians were still out there, all of the consoles were completely off line, artificial gravity was holding, for now, but the ship itself was spinning slowly on its axis as it didn’t even have stabilizing thrusters.

The First Officer finally got to his feet, his eyes watery and glossy, and Sam knew it was because he had been crying; faking being unconscious on the floor. Commander Tucket pulled on his tunic, and unconvincingly held his head in his hands, Sam could only smile. When the Captain spun on his heals, Sam was caught so off guard he thought they had been hit again, but the look on the Captain’s face showed signs of a master chess player sealing the game with a checkmate.

“Cardassians” Captain Macharius started, “they are so predictable it defies imagination. You should have just kept firing…” The Captain momentarily turned to shake his fist at the blank view screen. “But if you want it, come and get some!”, moving quickly, Sam watched him head towards his center chair and unlock a seal at the bottom of the chair, and then it clicked, clicked with a vengeance.

“Boarding parties!” Sam exclaimed, so loud that all eyes on the bridge had shifted from the Captain to him. “I’ll be a…” he started, before being cut off by the Captain as he retrieved a hand phaser from his chair.

“Exactly right Samuel, you might fit into a red uniform yet!” replied the Captain, jokingly jabbing at Sam’s choice to choose Operations instead of Command, knowing Sam had no wish to command. “Now, you get down to Main Engineering andmake sure it stays in OUR control, if we have any chance of getting out of this mess, it’ll be done in Engineering!” he ordered “I will sta…” he was interrupted by Commander Tucket.

“Sir, if Main Engineering is going to decide our fate, I should be the one to take command of its defense, it is my responsibility as First Officer.” Countered the Commander, needless to say Sam wasn’t that shocked. “I will be in Main Engineering and I’ll hold it.” He then headed for the turbo lift, caught in mid-step by the Captain.

“Last I checked, this was still my ship, I didn’t ask for your opinion in this matter, nor is it needed.” The Captain looked furious. Sam had seen him mad before but this was during a battle, a life or death situation, a successful and honored military hero such as him didn’t take well to being challenged during such situations. The furry in Captains Macharius’s eyes, Sam swore, was enough to destroy all of the attacking Cardassian ships, he almost pitied the Commander; almost.

“Now, Samuel, if you would kindly get off my bridge like I asked without delay.” Ordered the Captain in an odd tone, with humor, anger and frustration mixed together. Before the Captain was able to say anymore, Sam was gone and out through the turbo lift, which was barely still running. “Now, you, Commander Tucket, get down to the Docking Bay area and set up a defense there, some will beam aboard but they are sure to launch boarding craft and Docking Bay 1 and 2 are the best targets for them to disembark. Now go, I’ll stay and hold the bridge with the rest of the bridge crew; get moving!” Commander Tucket, pride severely beaten and embarrassed, headed off as he was ordered. The Captain and the rest of the bridge crew armed themselves and began to take up defensive positions on the bridge.

Sam tapped his communicator, unsure how effective they would be “This is Security Chief Grant to all hands; prepare to repel boarders. Security Teams Alpha through Fox, meet me in Main Engineering!” he barked as the turbo lift doors opened, he quickly stepped out and took off running towards Main Engineering “The rest of you go to Security Alert Status 1 and secure all areas, Security Team Hotel report to the Main Bridge and protect the Captain!” He received partial responses, as the communicators appeared to be working on their own power and under ‘short range’ communication protocols.

When he entered Engineering, it looked worse then the bridge. There were dozens of bodies strewn across the area, some wounded, some dead. Many consoles had been blown out and there were wiring and the like hanging from the ceiling, sparks still shooting out from some areas. There were engineers working on everything, security teams arriving and taking up positions, medical teams that were treating the wounded, it was a sad scene. The smell of burnt flesh, fire, death and agony were strong enough to taste; Sam spit in the corner to clear his mouth of the scent.

Amongst it all, he began ordering the security teams to set up defenses and prepare for the coming attack. There were 3 entrances to Main Engineering, two on the main floor and one on the 2nd floor; he focused the bulk of his forces at these entrances. He kept two teams in reserve and one roaming incase they beamed in behind the defenses; this usually wasn’t possible due to scrambling devices that had been installed in key areas but with the systems so heavily damaged, it was possible. The reserve teams assisted the medical personnel in corralling the wounded and set up a trauma unit in Engineering so they could treat the wounded there, there was no way to get them to Sickbay at this time; if it was even still there.

Over all the shouting and agony, both from the crew and the Bull Run herself, Sam heard the distinct voice of Chief Young, which immediately lifted his spirits. He looked around until he saw her, almost not knowing if it was the same person; she looked battered. Her fiery red hair was matted with sweat and singed in several areas, her pale skin color was distorted with blackened ash and small cuts that were still bleeding, her green eyes covered with soot and tears. “Jennifer!” Sam shouted, running towards her, she turned at her name being called.

“Sam what are you doing here? You’re no engineer.” A light hearted smile cresting her face, it filled Sam with resolve “I know I said we’re done for, but we think we’ve found a way to get some power back, we’re working on it.” She paused briefly as she barked orders to one of the engineering crews working just off to her left. It was when she looked to her left, she finally noticed that the security teams were not cleaning up the area, but setting up barricades and defenses. “Sam? What is going on?”

Sam grabbed both her arms, wanting to hug her, to kiss her, but knowing now wasn’t the time. She looked much worse off then she actually was, no serious injuries, but Sam was still concerned none the less. His anger towards the Cardassians had built more and more with each passing second during the fighting, but seeing his beloved in this manner, his gorge rose to new heights. “We’re about to be boarded,” replied Sam “those damn Cardies aren’t happy enough destroying us, they want us for a prize!” he spoke through gritted teeth. “You need to get your people to safety, and have the able bodied crew pick up phasers to help out.”

Jennifer looked back at Sam, a combination of fear and anxiety in her eyes. She was quiet for only a few seconds, but it seemed like forever as reality began to set in. “No.” she replied simply, stunning Sam cold. “No, we have a job to do, this ship needs power and we believe we can do it. You deal with the Cardassians, that’s your job!” Her eyes showing cold determination, a side of her Sam hadn’t seen before.

“Wha-huh?” was all Sam could initially reply with. “Jen, this isn’t a game damn it! If they get in here they’ll kill us all, or worse…” he noticed that the ‘walking wounded’ were being armed and brought to the barricades and tasked with guarding the other more critical wounded, easily tripling the defenses strength.

Looking back, she pulled back out of Sam’s grasp “You’re right it isn’t!” she exclaimed with a shout, “If keep control of the ship, but have no power, what good is it; they’ll just blow us out of the stars in anger. We need to get power back to the ship, that’s what we’ll do, you fight the Cardassians! We’ll do our jobs, you do yours!” Jennifer about faced and took off, working hurriedly with her crewmates trying to get desperately needed power back to the Bull Run.

Sam watched as she ran off, her beauty easily masking her resolve. You would not think someone with such an astonishing physical beauty such as herself would contain such a fighting spirit, every time it rose to the surface it always stunned everyone around. Sam was going to argue, he didn’t want to suffer any more unnecessary deaths, but he knew deep down that she was right; The Bull Run did need power. Without it, all that repelling the boarders would do would be to have them destroyed instead of captured, so he conceded the point. As he watched her run off, struck by his feelings for her, he began to mumble a half hearted “I lov…” when he was interrupted by shouting.

“HERE THEY COME!!!!!” was the word, and an understatement it wasn’t.

[gengrant]

Chapter Four: Hold until the last…

The shouting and screaming came through the corridors, announcing the arrival of the enemy just as effectively as the pickets Sam had placed in the halls had done. In the second that it took for Sam to un-sling his type to Phaser Rifle, the pickets were charging back into Main Engineering firing over their shoulders. They were pushing in from all sides at the same time, Sam knew that they had to be deploying dozens, if not hundreds of boarding parties to take the Bull Run.

The corridor began to glow, an eerie bronze shade to the light, which he knew was Cardassian compressor weaponry. In the same instance, time seemed to slow, the shouting and screaming took on a deep and delayed echoing affect, throwing off his senses. He looked around and saw that his 20 men and women from his Security Detail were taking aim at the corridors waiting for the first of them to try and break through. He saw the wounded, both walking and critical, trying to be supportive, some holding phasers while the others assisted the medical teams; there were over 50 wounded shipmates in this area alone, several dead and a dozen or so medical staff. There were also several dozen engineers that were running back and forth, still working, trying to get some power back on. All told, Sam had around 100 people in this area he was responsible, and was in probably the most critical spot on the ship; even more so then the bridge.

Turning back, at the barricade he was stationed at, he locked eyes with the first of the enemy, their pale green reptile like face caused him not to be able to blink, their deep eye sockets and the distinctive ridged neck that looked like a Terran cobra, their almost pearl white teeth backed by an almost bright pink mouth; Cardassians. Phaser fire erupted all around him, and engineering for that matter, red and yellow rays of light passed each other in the air, some hit consoles, others met flesh and bone. The federation phaser fire had an unusual sound to it, a much higher ‘whiz’ then before, Sam knew exactly what it was when he heard it; they had all been set to maximum, to kill. There was to be no quarter given or received, this was not a time for discussion or prisoners, diplomacy or mercy; it was personal.

Sam fired, the phaser rifle almost feeling natural in his hand, he felt his confidence grow and his resolve stiffen, he fired again, along with the eight other people at his barricade point. The Cardassian he’d locked eyes with was hit by four of the initial blasts and sent flying backwards through the air into his cohorts, unfazed they were, they just kept coming. A compressor blast took Sam in the left shoulder, a near miss, just singing his uniform and some skin, he knelt down behind the barricade and continued firing. When his power cell ran dry, he laid on his back and changed it, sparring a moment to survey the surroundings. There was compressor fire coming in from all entrances, shouting and the discharge of the weapons made commanding the defense all but impossible. His reserves were holding their positions, as were their orders, and the roaming detail had taken up positions around the warp core and some of the more exposed engineers.

Although he knew he wasn’t going to be able to make snap adjustments or be in direct control of this defense, thanks to the circumstances, he wasn’t worried. He trained his staff hard on the art of improvising and thinking on their own, exactly for instances such as these, he was glad to see the training appeared to be paying off.

He resumed his position and opened fire again, his current site alone there had to be more then a dozen Cardassians down already, and they were dropping quickly. They had the angle, having to step write out in front of the defenders before they were even able to fire. Regardless of the casualties being inflicted, they just kept coming, their war cry of “Remember Cardassia, we loved her so!” towering over the exchange of weapons fire, the tenacity they displayed was almost stunning. Sam believed that the Cardassians, the ‘dissidents’ blamed the federation for the devastation brought to their world, and they were out for blood.

Suddenly the officer to his right fell backwards, his face, or rather what was left of it, was singed black and gone, there were to additional hits to his chest and abdomen area. Sam new he was dead before he hit the floor, he re-aimed and opened fire again. He could hear panicked shouts and weapons fire behind him, he turned to see that they were taking casualties at the choke points, the reserves were filling the holes, but Sam knew that he had very few replacements to an enemy with such numbers. If this was to come down to a battle of attrition, they were as good as dead, the math just didn’t add up.

His rifle blew dry again, and he went prone to reload, they were making good hits but there was just so many of them. With an expert’s fingers and years of training, Sam’s men were able to reload their weapons in a matter of seconds, thus keeping up an excellent rate of fire. Sam stood and fire, switching targets as quickly as he could pull the trigger; he dropped one with a double shot to the chest, another with an aimed shot to the head, he tracked left and continued to fire. Another went down, a shot to left leg followed by shot to the chest, another double tap to the chest, and another and another… When his rifle went dry again, he kneeled to reload, and suddenly found himself alone.

He quickly looked to his left and then his right, only to find that he had left the barricade and walked out into the corridor, fighting to push the tide back. As the other marksmen form his barricade continued to fire over his shoulder, he heard a the shouting again, he looked up and saw dozens more Cardassians running towards him, he brought up his rifle and fired at the rushing wave, at knee level. The ones in the front buckled over as their legs were taken out from below them, causing the ones behind to get tripped up. Sam was going to make them pay for every inch of this ship, but knew he didn’t stand a chance where he was. He didn’t know how he got out into the corridor, he didn’t remember advance, but he knows he didn’t give the order because none of his men followed him, but his blood was up and it was clouding his judgment ever so slightly. He knew that if he turned and ran, he’d be dead, but if he stayed he wouldn’t live much longer, but he continued to fire.

“Damnit Sam!” came a shrill voice behind him “I swear I have to do everything! Get back here!” ordered the voice. But Sam didn’t move, he just continued to fire at the wave of Cardassians running towards him, the zip-zip of his phaser fire was screwing with his hearing. When he went to reload, the voice came clear “unless you want to die with them, you better get your grunt Grant arse back here! Hot potato coming your way!”

Same snuck a look and saw an object flying through the air, and the men at his barricade waiving for him to come back. He was 50 meters from the barricade and 30 meters from the mass of bodies coming towards, he didn’t think he’d make it. But over the shouting and firing detail at the barricade, he saw Jennifer firing a phaser and shouting for him to come to her, he back at the object that was passing over head, it was a Type III hand phaser. Sam looked at it and was confused, but only for a nanosecond, as he then realized what was going on, the phaser was humming and the charge level display was increasing, it was hot to the touch. “HOT POTATO?!” he repeated, quickly throwing it at the approaching wave, stood up and ran as fast as he could back towards the barricade. He gather he had a matter of seconds before the phaser exploded, a compressor blast hit him in the right upper back and caused him to stumble. He thought he was dead, but time began to slow again, almost as if on queue, and as he fell towards the bulkhead, he found himself suddenly airborne, a meter and a half of the ground.

The detail at the barricade rose to catch him, although only mildly successful and they all crashed to the deck; hard. A fire ball came over the barricade and slightly signed them, nothing critical. There was an awful silence, only broken by a weapon discharge here or there, the shots occurring less and less. Sam tried to get up off the deck, not to much effect unfortunately, his shoulder and arm were filled with pain. One of his officers helped him up to a console, so that he could at least lean, as a medic came over to start treating his wound. It was serious, but not exactly life threatening, he wasn’t going to be playing baseball anytime soon, that was for sure. Jennifer came rushing over to him, and gently kissed him on his forehead, that lovely smile crossing her face.

“You forgot to yell ‘grenade’.” Sam said, through labored breath, he coughed up a little blood and figured he’d suffered some lung injuries also. She shrugged, her bright red hair falling back across her shoulders.

“Well, I’m not the history buff here, I don’t remember ‘everything’ you ramble on about…” she smiled, trying to cover the look of concern on her face.

"Hot potato it is then, I'll have to remember that..." Sam tried to grin, fighting the battle fatigue that began to rush over him.

The medic knelt down next to them and began treating Sam’s shoulder, more importantly, injecting him with strong pain killers to allow him to look past the pain in his shoulder. Jennifer stroked his good arm/hand and his leg as he was being treated by the medic, a warm smile on her face. Sam didn’t think he was hurt that bad, but Jennifer’s looks were making him a bit nervous.

As he sat there, he took a moment to look around to check their status… There were additional bodies strewn across the deck, not all were Cardassian’s. One of his Security Officers ran over to him “Lieutenant, you alright Sir?” said the Sergeant.

“I’ve been worse,” he replied “although to be honest, at this particular moment, I can’t remember when.” Sam tried to smile, moral was very important right now and he had to try and keep it up. “Report Sergeant Overiakt.” He ordered.

The young Sergeant, apparently feeling better knowing that Sam was going to be alright, looked around the area and then back at him. “We held them, damn it we did it!” he anxiously said. “Initial counts are putting Cardassian dead at 50 or so, spread out between the three entryways. We took a few ourselves I’m afraid, 4 dead and 11 injured.” The Sgt. looked down at the deck, sorrow crossing his face.

“Spread the word Sgt.; good work to all. But it isn’t over yet, tell them to prepare for another attack any moment.” Sam grunted as the medic let him lay back against the bulkhead and told him to rest.

“Attack? Sir, I said the dead were in excess of 50. Not 5, 50, that’s an awful lot of personnel to have board a ship and attack it from within. If that number was just what hit us, it’s safe to assume that at least double that number boarded the ship altogether. What’s left shouldn’t be that hard to round up; we’ve won sir!” The Sgt. seemed almost as if he were already at the victory celebration; Sam knew better.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion of the situation Sgt. You weren’t on the bridge, the sensors have been down, there isn’t one ship out there that did this!” Sam’s voice raised, between his adrenaline and the pain killers, he was on his feet again. His voice carried through the engine room, causing all but the deafly injured to look his way. “There were five of them; five ships. They purposefully took down the shields so they could board and capture this ship and torture this crew. This isn’t some honorable duel in war, or even in a misunderstanding engagement; they’re out for blood! Our blood!” Some of the crew seemed more frightened now then before the Cardassians attack, others looked more confident, almost as if steeling themselves for the coming storm. The understanding sinking into everyone. “If we lose, we are all dead, or worse. If we win, we may perish before help can arrive due to the damage the Bull Run has taken.” Sam bent down, passed a stunned and staring Chief Young, grabbed his phaser rifle and stood back up checking the power cell. “As is often the case, the Federation nor Starfleet started this fight; but by God WE are going to finish it!”

There was a roar among the 100 some crewmen and officers in Main Engineering, they were cheering and shouting. As soon as the realization sunk in, they all redoubled their efforts, barricades were rebuilt and weapons redistributed. The engineers quickly returned to their work trying to get power back to the ship, and the Security Staff resumed their positions.

Sam re-slung his rifle and turned around, his shoulder and back were both stiff, causing a dull pain, but he was thankful for the medication none the less. He looked and everybody was moving except one person; Chief Young stared at him with water filled eyes. The ash from the environment covered her face and matted her hair, the fiery red hair almost unnoticeable under the black. But her tears had caused two lines to run down her face, Sam figured that even with all her gusto, she had finally realized how bad of a situation it really was. She stepped forward and reached out for him, Sam met her hands and squeezed them tightly “Get the bridge some power, you’re the only one that can.” Sam didn’t know how long they could hold out, but without power to the ship, it didn’t matter. Their story wouldn’t even be recorded in any archive or passed down to anyone; they’d be forgotten. Jennifer couldn’t speak, she just stared blankly and wept, “Go on, you’ll be fine, I’ve got to go play now.” Sam wasn’t sure if his lighted humor was making a difference, between the death and destruction that had occurred in last fight, which had only lasted about 10 minutes or so, he knew there was more killing to be done.

Still she said nothing, but only stared at him. Sam jerked his head in the opposite direction, winked at her, and turned to walk back to the barricade he was at before. Although Sam could not hear her, Jennifer muttered “always the joker…”, then she turned and ran back to work.

As soon as he arrived at the barricade, he could hear the shouting again. “They’re coming again boys!” Sam bellowed, his voice still strong and authoritative. “Remember her motto, “Bull Run was only the beginning chapter of one of the greatest stories ever told…!!!” Phaser fire lit up the corridors; the killing recommenced again in earnest.