Jim Stone sat quietly in the aft compartment of USS Pennine. They had just completed their upteenth rescue of a drifting shuttlecraft near Tosnoqua and he was busy compiling the report on the terminal in the living area. As he tapped the send control to dispatch the report to the Sector Command he contemplated the three rest days he would be starting on returning to Serenity. A little exploration of the mainland was probably in order, or a trip out on Blue Lake.
His thoughts were interrupted, as they usually were, by the comm system bleeping.
"Boss, come to the front please," Rich's voice echoed from the speakers above him.
Stone sighed and got to his feet, tapping the terminal to put it on standby as he did so. He walked through the doors as they slid open and after several paces emerged into the command module, where he saw Hedley sat tapping commands and Watson at the helm. As he entered Watson turned to face him.
"We've lost a shuttle approximately two lightyears outside Serenity, last reported heading for a small class P planet in the Sigma Ardu system," Watson reported.
"Hmmm." Stone took in the information and walked to the co-pilots seat and sat down. "Set a course maximum warp."
The runabout turned in a smooth motion as the warp drive engaged and propelled the vessel to warp.
The runabout slowed from warp as it entered the Sigma Ardu system, the whole team was aboard the vessel performing various preparation tasks.
"Sensors show that Sigma Ardu six and seven are class P," Fisher reported. "Showing nitrogen, oxygen and trace elements in the atmosphere, I can't penetrate the magnetic field of either planet, they are two or three times stronger than the class M, the sensors can't scan through."
Class P planets were of similar size to class M, but were entirely frozen, due their position in the cold zone.
"Any sign of the shuttle?" Stone asked.
He looked out of the front viewport at the icy-white/blue planet in the distance.
"Not at this time," she replied. "Ardu Station is scanning us."
The inhabitants of Sigma Ardu VI were a warp-capable species and a Federation protectorate, but had not yet decided to join the Federation. Therefore a rescue mission without clear prior approval could be disastrous.
"Continue approach," Stone replied calmly.
He watched the planet grow larger in the viewport as they approached.
"WEAPONS FIRE!" Hedley shouted. "BRACE BRACE!"
The USS Pennine jolted suddenly as energy struck the hull. Hedley was thrown from his chair across the flight deck as his control exploded in a plume of sparks and burst into flames.
"Helm offline," Watson reported, still calm.
"Shields!" Stone called out to no-one in particular.
"Shield generators offline," Fisher replied as she rapidly attempted to locate the source of the weapons fire.
Hedley got to his feet and took a firm hold of the central mission ops console. After tapping several commands in he began to speak.
"Shields offline, weapons offline, propulsion and helm are offline," he called out, reading out the damage report. "Minor hull breach in the aft section, forcefields are holding, life support at fifty percent."
"Computer, send mayday all channels," Stone called out. The computer bleeped acknowledging the command.
As the runabout drifted powerless towards Sigma Ardu VII, a small vessel came into view.
"Who are they?" Stone asked.
"It's a Mulluran corvette boss," Hedley replied from behind him. "They have weapons charged and locked."
"Why don't they finish us?" Stone mumbled.
"It's more fun this way..." Rich replied, mumbling too.
Dural burst into the flight deck from the aft section.
"Who the hell was that?!" he shouted and then noticed the corvette. "Ahhh... sir, we've a hole in the back and we've lost Mitch."
"What?" Stone said, getting to his feet.
"He's gone, I tried every bit of equipment we have. A chair got sucked towards the hole and hit him," Dural replied. "He didn't stand a chance really."
Stone marched past Dural into the aft section leaving the rest of the team in the command module.
"Boss..." Rich called out as his senior officer left him. "We're heading towards a planet."
Stone returned moments later with an angry look on his face. He walked straight to the co-pilots console and began attempting to tap commands into the system.
"Who built this pile of crap?!" he shouted out. "Marc, get me weapons or engines or steering or something."
Hedley was busy in one of the access panels pulling wires out as Stone barked the command. "You should have helm now!" he said as he touched two of the strands together.
A plume of sparks flew from the smashed console Hedley had been using and the pilot console flickered to life.
"Setting attitude for landing, venting plasma," Rich reported as he entered commands. "Brace for landing."
As he instructed everyone to prepare for the bumpy ride the runabout entered the icy planet's atmosphere and began buffeting immediately. The vessel jolted suddenly and Stone felt a bang on the back of his head. Suddenly everything faded to a black emptiness. He could still felt a bump and then he could feel himself relax. The buffeting seemed to continue for several seconds and then everything was still.
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