Another cloud of smoke and debris in someone else’s
viewscreen.
“Commander, urgent call from engineering!”
Up gestured for the communications officer to put it
through. An unfamiliar, panicked voice came through the
radio.
“Commander Up, we’ve been hit! Direct hit to the warp
core – we’ve got a leak!”
“Where is Lieutenant-Commander Davis?” Up asked
sharply, as the eyes of the Rangers around him grew wide
with fear.
“He’s – he’s dead, sir. He was right next to the core
when it-”
“Lieutenant Taz!” Up barked, not needing to hear the
rest. “Take your team down to engineering. Evacuate the
crew and assess the damage – we need that engine working,
dammit!”
Taz saluted and picked up her zapper, several Rangers
moving to join her. Up caught her arm as she passed.
“Don’t try and be a hero, you hear?” he said. “If it can’t
be saved, then get your team back up here. I don’t want you
down there when that core goes.”
She nodded. It wasn’t the right thing to say, not when
their chances of survival had shrunk this low, but it was the
best he could do. He was sending her because he trusted
her, and he hoped she knew that. But come back to me, Taz.
If we die today, I want it to be together.
Taz was too restless for pushups. She paced the floor of
her quarters, picking things up, rearranging them, folding
and refolding uniforms, flopping onto her bed and getting
up to pace again. Then, finally, a knock.
She wrenched the door open, and her face fell a little.
“Oh,” she said. “I thought it might be-”