The Warp Failed – Control Was Not Maintained – Star Trek Fanfiction (Red Directive #47)

 

Two more nights of dinner in the First Officer’s quarters alone did not look good.

I sat up in bed of the captain’s quarters staring out the viewport. I kept overplaying my interactions with Commander Darak in my mind over the last few nights.

I could feel morale had shifted greatly.

Why does the crew not understand my dilemma?

Would they want to dine in their deceased commanding officer’s quarters after taking over that command?

It is… less than to be desired.

I had thought about utilizing the Senior Officer’s Mess Hall since the lower decks crew had finally finished the refit, but Commander Darak’s offer for dinner every night was more preferable.

I found his presence… agreeable. Preferable in isolation.

I did not want to give the crew something more to whisper about.

Cardassians do not hide their emotions nearly as much as Vulcans do. His displays on the bridge the last two days have given the crew more than enough to fuel their gossip.

I should have stopped his displays of affection on the bridge.

I did not.

I also did not find them to be unpleasant.

I have meditated on this every night and do not seem to be any closer to calming these emotions he has… elicited.

It is my first experience establishing a developed bond with a male.

Not to mention a non-Vulcan male.

Ambassador Spock was half-human. It is known that our lineage has branched out to mate with other species.

However, there has never been a Cardassian tied into our lineage.

Logic dictates this is not a route I should pursue. Cardassians do not have a good reputation in the Alpha Quadrant.

Commander Darak did defect from the Obsidian Order and join Starfleet.

It is… possible that some humanoids can change.

I exhaled slowly at the thought. This level of… proximity was not anticipated. Nor prepared for.

As humans would say, “Just go with the flow.”

It seemed that I was doing just that.

“Computer, time.”

“It is approximately zero four hundred hours.”

Four more hours till Alpha shift.

Vulcans did not require much more sleep than what has been presented to me. However, the nights seemed to be… inefficient.

Three days of travel back to the Alpha Quadrant on edge would be taxing to any individual.

My head started pounding at the thought.

Only half a day left till we reached the Bajoran Wormhole.

Going this long with hardly any incident in the Gamma Quadrant aboard the Cairo was… improbable.

I threw the covers to my bed off to the side and crossed my legs as I winced in pain.

Maybe meditation would help with my headache and apparent insomnia.

While exercising control over my thoughts, I suddenly felt an unfamiliar uneven pulsing rhythm below me.

I opened my eyes and the stars outside started to elongate differently. They did not appear as their normal clean streaks.

Then I looked over to the LCARS displays in the entryway of my quarters as they started to flicker.

Starting to sense something was wrong with the Cairo, I stood up and ran to my sanitation unit. I quickly grabbed my captain’s uniform and started to put it on.

With one arm into my shirt, reality started to shift.

Without warning, I felt a sharp deceleration of the ship. There was a sudden pressure shift in my body. My ears started to pop, it was hard to breath.

Then realization.

We had been forced out of warp.

My eyes widened fearing the worst as I felt the ship pull to one side, then it lurched forward suddenly.

Then I lurched forward with it…

“T’VAREN!”

I opened my eyes slowly to the loud call of my name that felt like it was the only thing I could hear.

The ringing in my ears was overwhelming. My vision was blurred and I could feel persistent pressure localized to the frontal cortex.

I blinked several times, but the double frames made it difficult to identify who was standing above me.

Why is someone standing above me?

“T’VAREN!!”

I felt hands on my shoulders and my body shook as recognition followed.

Commander Darak.

My vision began to stabilize. My auditory clarity returned in increments.

Once I could fully hear and see, I realized the Klaxon alarm was active while all the lights had already shifted to red.

“Red Alert. Red Alert.”

I sat up too quickly and my vision blurred again.

I felt Commander Darak grab my waist to steady me.

“T’Varen! Are you okay?”

Still disoriented, I allowed my hand to rest over his. As I looked down to guide it, I realized the top half of my uniform was not on my body.

I immediately covered my chest, despite still being in an undergarment.

This was not appropriate for a Starfleet captain.

I located my shirt halfway across the room and pushed Darak off of me, moving toward it.

“What are you doing?” he exclaimed.

“I am fine, Commander.”

I stood too quickly and my balance faltered.

Darak once again placed his hands on my waist.

“You are not fine! You can barely stand!”

I quickly put my shirt on, fastening it without pausing to secure the pips.

“Your statement is noted, Commander.”

I retrieved my comm badge and moved toward the door, still compensating for instability.

Behind me, I heard the chirp of his comm badge.

“Commander Darak to Sickbay. The captain requires immediate transport.”

I tapped my own badge.

“Doctor, belay that order.”

“What is going on up there? Why did we stop? Why are we on red alert? Does the captain need help?”

“That is why I cannot report to Sickbay, Doctor. We have been forced out of warp. I am required on the bridge.”

“Very well. Sickbay is already starting to fill up, Captain.”

“Acknowledged.”

I exited into the corridor and attempted to run toward the turbolift, though my equilibrium remained compromised.

I felt Darak’s hand grab mine.

“Commander, we are required on the bridge.”

There was concern in his expression, but he released me.

We ran together toward the turbolift.

The doors opened as he reached the panel.

“Bridge.”

I was not taking any chances he would redirect us.

As the lift ascended, he took my hand again.

I looked down.

This was becoming… familiar.

I met his gaze.

Before I could respond, he took both of my hands and pulled me closer.

A response was not immediately available.

He lifted my hands and pressed his lips to them.

“You will not do this alone. Exercise care. I will coordinate with you.”

I nodded as he released me just as the doors opened.

That was… unexpected.

I exited immediately and moved toward the captain’s chair.

Our Betazoid operations officer was already speaking.

“There’s… something inconsistent in the power flow. It doesn’t feel stable.”

Our Trill Officer of the Watch, Lieutenant Commander Kelen Vos, considered her words.

“Continue monitoring the EPS grid, Ensign.”

Ensign Lira Tane nodded and returned to her console.

Ensign Belar was already working rapidly at the science station as I passed him.

I approached Lieutenant Vos, who was seated in the captain’s chair with composed control. He continued with orders.

“Helm, maintain course.”

Our Tellarite helmsman responded, “Navigation is unstable. Controls are lagging. Compensating…”

When Lieutenant Vos saw me, he immediately stood.

“Captain on the bridge.”

“What occurred, Lieutenant?”

He lowered his arm.

“Warp field irregularity. It’s increasing.”

He stepped aside.

“You have the bridge, Captain.”

I took the chair.

Lieutenant Vos moved to the adjacent command position.

“Ensign Belar is analyzing the irregularities.”

I turned.

Commander Darak was not at my other side. He was at the science station beside Belar.

“Ensign Belar, report.”

“Warp field phase variance is increasing—port and starboard nacelles are falling out of synchronization, Captain.”

Darak followed immediately.

“The starboard field is lagging by 0.03 microseconds.”

Warp field phase desynchronization.

Consistent with forced warp reversion.

“Commander, Ensign, begin recalibration and diagnostics.”

“Aye, Captain.”

I tapped my comm badge.  

“Captain to Commander Pelia.”

“Pelia here.”

Background noise—Where ever she was, it was active.

“I require you in Engineering immediately.”

“I’m already here, Captain.”

Then more sharply, “Lieutenant Hale, that conduit is not going to fix itself.”

Then again, dryly,

“It seemed like the logical place to be.”

I did not respond to the remark.

“We have detected desynchronization in the nacelles.”

“Of course you have. What did you expect running a modified system at sustained high warp? Your blind spot adjustments are still affecting my grid.”

The deck began vibrating violently.

Ensign Tane raised her voice.

“EPS flow is fluctuating across multiple systems, captain. Power distribution isn’t stabilizing.”

Commander Pelia chimed back in rather loudly over the comms, “Captain! Warp field instability is increasing! Structural shear is beginning across subspace layers.”

The computer escalated. “Warning… Warp Core Breach imminent.”

We had minimal time. 

“Commander Pelia, reroute power between nacelles. If you temporarily imbalance the warp field, you should be able to snap it back into sync.”

“Nothing like waiting till the last minute with you Vulcans. Aye, captain.” Then a little quieter before the transmission cut out, “Marcus, you heard the captain, start the reroute. I’ll handle the field imbalance.”

I anticipate that the Gamma Shift Engineer is just as capable as the commander.

The ship continued to shake. 

“Warning… Warp Core Breach imminent in 60 seconds.”

I tightened my grip on the armrests of the captain's chair. 

It was up to Commander Pelia and Lieutenant Hale now to save us all.

This must be sufficient.

It has to be.

The computer continued, “Warning… Warp Core Breach imminent in 30 seconds.”

The bridge fell into a strained silence beyond the alarms. No one spoke. No one moved.

Only waited.

I closed my eyes.

Control must be maintained.

Deviation is not acceptable.

A familiar hand found mine.

Warm.

Steady.

I opened my eyes and Commander Darak was sitting in the secondary command chair to my right. Our gazes met.

I was certain Lieutenant Vos had seen the interaction, but in that moment it was of no relevance.

The ship was still shaking and the computer was still in Red Alert. “Warning… Warp Core Breach imminent in 15 seconds.”

My neural response was… immediate.

I closed my eyes again and felt Commander Darak squeeze my hand tighter. The computer continued, “Warning… Warp Core Breach imminent, 10… 9… 8…”

If Pelia fails—

“7…”

Why did I not order evacuation?

Logic dictates preservation of crew over vessel.

“6… 5… 4…”

Why am I still here?

The thought did not complete.

The vibration stopped.

Abruptly.

The silence that followed was absolute.

The lights returned to normal.

Respiration resumed, though I had not realized I had stopped.

The comm system chirped above us. “Engineering to Bridge.”

“Nothing like waiting till the last second, commander.”

I, too, am capable of such remarks.

“Timing was essential, captain. I needed the variance to peak. Earlier intervention would not have held.”

“Your timing was… precise.”

“Warp field is stabilized, captain. We can maintain warp, but not above factor five.”

“Affirmative. Bridge Out.”

The channel closed.

Commander Darak released my hand.

The absence was immediate.

He was running analysis on his PADD.

Our Gamma Shift helmsman was also hard at work. “Engines standing by, captain. Ready on your command.”

I detected a delay in auditory processing as Ensign Lrek spoke.

A fraction of a second.

Then another.

Something was… incorrect.

I stood up to restore operational focus and get a better look at the main display for the remainder of our plotted course.

The shift in posture was immediate.

Instability returned.

I grabbed the armrest of my chair to keep myself steady. “Adjust heading by—”

Suddenly speech was no longer possible.

Visual clarity degraded rapidly. The plotted course on the main display fractured into indistinct shapes.

Motor control failed.

There was no recovery.

My body gave way.

Commander Darak caught me before impact.

 I could not see him, but I heard him shouting, 

“Lieutenant Sareth! Grab a medical tricorder now!”

My instincts wanted to raise my hand, but there was a transient impairment in motor function still.

“Bridge to Sickbay!” 

 I felt myself lowered to the deck, though I could not orient the motion.

“Sickbay here, please state the nature of the medical emergency.”

“Doctor, I need immediate transport of the Captain and myself."

“I’m afraid that is not possible right now, Commander. Chief Ren informed me moments ago transporters are offline for the next hour. I am sending a medical team now.”

That information should have been relayed to the bridge first.

The thought was immediate.

Then lost.

Respiration became irregular.

My breathing rate increased beyond normal parameters.

Darak’s voice escalated—

Urgent.

Closer.

But—

Auditory processing failed.

Sound dissolved into nothing.

I could not hear him.

Perception… narrowed.

Then—

ceased.