Pike stood staring out the windows in his cabin. Far below spun a beautiful blue and green world, but the view was wasted on Pike at the moment. The Knight had been stranded here for over a week now, disabled by some sort of weapon shot at them from the Kelvan planet-ship, and he was in no mood to consider aesthetics.
Repairs were going more slowly than Pike would have liked, but the damage was much more extensive than first estimated. Nearly every system on board had taken some sort of damage. Engineering was doing its best trying to fix critical systems, but Pike still felt frustrated by his inability to act. Who knows where the Kelvans were right now, and what mayhem they were causing in the Federation. He needed to get the Knight back into the game!
Actually, the engineering section was doing a phenomenal job considering that they had lost their chief during the attack. One of the few casualties of the battle was Lieutenant Sevan Lantree, killed by the delta rays when a baffle plate on the impulse pile had buckled as he was passing in front of it. The service for his funeral had been brief; there was too much work that urgently needed to be done.
Lieutenant JG Brock, one of the Knight's more exotic crew members, was filling in as chief of engineering, and he was doing a commendable job.
Pike sighed deeply and unclasped his hands from behind his back. He turned away from the window and went over to his desk. The top of it was littered with PADDs containing reports from the various departments. He had put it off as long as he could, but he had to read them. He sighed again as he sat in the chair behind the desk.
Just then, the door chime buzzed and Yeoman Piper walked in with another armload of PADDs. "More reports for you, Commodore," she said as she dumped the pile next to the other pile on the desk.
"Thank you, Yeoman," said Pike gruffly without meaning it. He stared in dismay at the PADDs. After a few seconds, he noticed that Piper was still standing beside his desk. "Thank you, Yeoman," he repeated, indicating the door with his left hand.
Piper turned on her heel and without a word, left his cabin.
Pike wondered a moment what that had been about, but forgot about it as soon as his gaze touched the PADD pile again. He sighed again, and reached for the top PADD....
Engineering Report:
Stardate: 60910.67
Systems Repair Status:
- Propulsion systems expected to be back on line within 2 days except for transwarp. Transwarp repairs pending return of planet survey details with raw materials. Estimated repair time: 1 week.
- 66% of ablative armor has been burned off and cannot be replaced until ship reaches full drydock facilities.
- Shields and weapons will be repaired and recharged within 2 days.
- Minimal damage to Life Support. Structural Integrity Field generators and ship's superstructure being repaired/reinforced. Repair time: 2 days.
- Computer systems fully functional using secondary systems.
Total estimated repair time - 1 week
Science Report:
Stardate: 60911.3
System Survey Report:
- Star: UFP Designation: N-157; Class: G3
- System: 6 planets; I: Class-J; II: Class-G; III: Class-K; IV: Class-M; V: Class-S; VI: Class-H
- Planet I is Class-M, with a large variety of native life-forms, none sentient.
- Crust is rich in molybdenum and rhodinium and other materials necessary for ship's repairs.
- Despite the lack of sentient life, sensors continue to detect traces of refined materials and generated power somewhere on or near the planet.
There were many more reports that Pike worked his way through, but these two were the most relevant. The planetary survey teams were bringing back the raw materials that were then fed through the industrial replicators that turned them into the replacement parts that engineering needed to repair the ship's damaged systems.
If all went well, the Knight would be spaceworthy again in about one week. Then they could go after the Kelvans. But the Kelvans had a two-week, 1000 light-year head start. It would take a miracle indeed for the Knight to get back to the Federation before the fighting was all over!