The sun was setting over the Golden Gate Bridge. Ian and Sasha were watching the sunset with their daughters. The little girls were asleep. There were no words spoken. Just the sound of life passing around them. Ian was holding his wife tight when he heard on odd sound. As he tried to focus on what it was, he was jostled from sleep by the shock of an explosion.
"Red Alert," sounded the CO. "Red Alert. All crew to battle stations."
Ian wanted so much to stay in his dream. His wife had only been dead for a month and he wanted to keep holding her, but his duty was to the Archer. He quickly got up from the floor and put his uniform on. Making sure that he looked decent enough for 0400 hours, he stepped out into the hallway.
Crew members were scrambling from their quarters and on their way to the various turbolifts. Obviously, they wanted to stay in their dreams as well. Ian headed for the nearest turbolift that was empty and ordered it to the bridge. As he arrived, the ship was jolted by a second explosion.
"Captain," Ian shouted over the alarms. "What's going on?"
"There is a rogue Romulan warbird out there," the captain said pointing to the screen. "There was no warning. They uncloaked and caught us off guard. Our warp drive is offline after the first hit, so we're on impulse only."
Ian nodded and went to his station. He began to look at the damage report from the first couple of hits. Noting that the damage was more in the engineering section, he contacted the chief.
"Bridge to Engineering!"
"Lagallien, here, sir."
"Rachel, I've noticed several cracks in the hull in Main Engineering. Secure your people. Keep only a handful down there until we get out of this mess. Your first priority is getting warp drive back online."
"Aye, sir," responded the Chief Engineer.
Without even expecting a response, Ian yelled once more to the chief. "And get more power to the shields.
Ian was shaken by another explosion, this one causing the tactical station to fray and send the young ensign to the floor. Ian ran to the ensign to check his condition, but it was too late. Ian stood up and took control of Tactical.
Ian looked at the console and noticed that computer targeting had been damaged. "Sir, we're going to have to fire from the hip. Targeting control is damaged."
"Do it. We don't have a lot of time."
Ian brought up the short-range sensors on a second panel and began making calculations. Setting the weapons to manual control, he began to apply his knowledge of weapons systems and tactical training to pinpoint where he might be able to fire his next shot.
Another shot from the Romulans rattled the ship. "Torpedo room, load all launchers!" Ian yelled. Another explosion on the bridge, this time taking out the conn officer. The captain helped the ensign to the captain's chair and took her place at the conn.
"Captain, change course to 326 by 382," Ian called out. The captain maneuvered his fingers across the conn panel and the ship began to change direction. As the ship made its change, Ian fired the four torpedos toward where the chasing Romulans should have been.
The viewscreen had been watching the Romulan ship and Ian saw as two of his four missiles hit the warbird. "It's a start," Ian thought to himself. "Mr. Franklin," Ian yelled to the OPS officer. "Status of the warbird's shields?"
The young officer looked at his screen and then back to Ian. "78 percent, sir. And just for the record, ours are at 70 percent."
"Thanks for the update, Mr. Franklin," Ian said with a curse under his breath. He was going to have to aim a lot better if he wanted to stop that warbird from chasing them any longer.
The ship was jolted again. The captain was maneuvering as best he could with the size of the ship he was flying, but the warbird was starting to gain speed.
The warbird fired again and the ship was rocked again. "Damage report!"
"There has been a hull breach in Main Engineering. Structural fields holding. Casualty report has not arrived yet. Shields at 60 percent and dropping."
"Bridge to Engineering," Ian said. "Rachel, is everyone okay?"
A male voice responded this time. "Lieutenant Reckard, here, sir. Commander Lagallien has been injured. She is being taken to sick bay now. We are still working on the warp drive, but with the hits that we are taking, it is harder for us to keep the systems together."
"Copy that, Lieutenant. Don't worry about the warp drive. Try to maintain shield integrity for a little while longer. I need them to stabilize."
"Aye sir," said the voice in the air,
Ian looked back down at his panel and noticed that the shields on the warbird were starting to fail as well. "Maybe we hit them harder than I thought," he said to himself. "Okay, captain. Here we go again." Ian checked the numbers and cross checked them again to make sure that he could get a solid hit this time. "Captain change course to 300 by 380."
The captain did as he was told once more. "You'd better have a good clean shot this time, Ian or I'll demote you."
Ian knew that the captain was trying to bring levity to the bridge in the time of crisis, so he helped along the joke. "Well, if I don't have a good shot, I think you should be demoted for your lack of piloting skills." Ian smiled and without being able to see the captain's face, knew that he was smiling too.
The ship began its maneuver and Ian lined up the warbird in the targeting reticle. Launching four more torpedos and a barrage of phasers, Ian could do nothing but pray.
As the torpedos hit the warbird's shields, small explosions could be seen against the hull. Ian looked over at Mr. Franklin for an accurate reading.
"Sir, the Romulan's shields have dropped to 20 percent and they have taken some hull damage." There was movement from the warbird. It began to turn around. "It appears to be retreating, sir." The OPS officer was about to give another report when one more torpedo was launched from the warbird before it cloaked. "Incoming torpedo!"
The captain began the evasive action, but the torpedo had been locked. The missile it the shields and rocked the ship. The captain was tossed from his chair and was knocked unconscious. Ian jumped to the lower level of the bridge from his station and pressed his comm badge. "Medical emergency on the bridge. The captain is wounded. Send a team as soon as possible."
Ian looked around at the bridge. It had several damaged areas and had small fires popping up in different places. Ian stood and made his way to the front of the bridge. "Mr. Franklin, is the warbird still out there?"
"I'm not sure, sir. It seems to have cloaked."
"We'll just have to hope for the best, then." Ian moved toward the captain's chair, turned around and faced the viewscreen.
"Computer, make a note in the log. Until further notice, I, Commander Ian McIntyre, am in command of this ship." The computer beeped its acknowledgment.
A medical team arrived and began to treat the captain as well as the conn officer. Ian sat down in the captain's chair and looked the OPS officer. "Mr. Franklin. I want crew members to search every deck of this ship looking for problems. Any kind of problem, I want it reported to you. Coordinate the repair efforts." He turned around to another officer. "Ensign Hardy, please take the conn." The ensign moved across the bridge and sat down in the empty chair. "Ensign. Set course for Starbase 1138. Maximum impulse. Engage."
"Bridge to Engineering. Lieutenant Reckard, now that we are no longer being shot at, I hope you can get the warp drive back online."
"Yes, sir. It should only take a couple of hours."
"Good. Inform me as soon as you have warp capabilities."
"Aye, sir. Reckard out."
Ian again looked at the bridge. There were only five people on it now, when normally there would be at least eight. Ian was worried about the loss of crew members. He didn't want to have to put the number of lives lost in his report. "Mr. Franklin," he started. "Please get a detailed report from all decks regarding casualties and losses." Ian stood up. He wanted to do something, but he chose to do nothing. He stepped toward the captain's ready room. "Mr. Franklin, you have the bridge. I will be in the captain's ready room. Please inform Starfleet of our situation and ask them to send an escort, if possible."
The young lieutenant stepped out from behind the OPS console and sat down in the captain's chair. The officer manning the science station moved over to OPS and continued to monitor the sensors.
Ian stepped into the captain's ready room and sat down in his chair. He opened a ship-wide channel to speak to the crew.
"Crew of the USS Archer. This is Commander Ian McIntyre. I wanted to let you all know that you did an amazing job and helped us survive an attack by a rogue Romulan warbird. Those of you that are injured, report to sick bay if possible. If you are unable, someone will come to you as soon as they can. Know that I am proud to be the First Officer aboard this ship and am just as proud to serve with this valiant crew. Though we are damaged and we have lost some lives, we will press on. Because that is what Starfleet does. We mourn the dead, but those who do not die, live on to carry their memory and to work toward a day when the violence will cease. That is all."
