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"Boomer Bust" by Lady Rainbow
Rating: PG-13 R/S pairing As usual: Comments and Reviews wanted and appreciated! Thanks! ;) Seven Travis and Hoshi joined Captain Sandosh in the tiny lift, while Trip headed for the engine room. It was even tighter than the one on Horizon; Travis was careful not to bump too close against Hoshi. He really didn't want to face Malcolm's wrath...or Hoshi's. He glanced sideways and caught her expression; she looked caught between horror and humor. Being in tight quarters with a Tellarite was not something either of them wanted to repeat. A roar knocked the ship sideways. Travis stumbled and grabbed the railing as Hoshi flew backwards into him. The air rushed from his lungs; he blacked out for several seconds before he managed to claw back to consciousness. She cursed in several languages as gravity failed for a minute, then came back in full force. Travis winced as she slammed into him again. She's heavier than she looks, he thought. “You all right?” she asked, her voice shaky and high pitched. “Yeah,” he wheezed. “I'm okay. Sandosh?” Sandosh had wedged his portly body into the corner and reached for the comm, but his short, stubby arms weren't long enough to reach it. Travis twisted enough to hit the button with his elbow. “Bridge, report!” Sandosh roared. “We were struck by some kind of dispersal wave,” chittered Thor. “No damage to any decks or cargo holds.” “Dispersal wave? Like an anomaly?” Travis asked, as he gently pushed Hoshi's hair away from his face. Enterprise had seen its share of anomalies, but none had ever come this close. There was more Tellarite swearing on the Bridge, mixed with Thor's high-pitched squeals. Hoshi winced at the volume of it; Travis squeezed her shoulder in reassurance. Then Thor returned with, “It looks like some kind of random pulse--” Trip interrupted from the engine room. “Warp's off line, Captain Sandosh, We've got power out at Junctures A, C and D. Rerouting now.” “Um..Trip, we're stuck in the lift,” Travis grated out. “Can you speed it up a little bit?” “Please?” Hoshi squeaked. She sounded panicked, and Travis remembered her claustrophobia. Being squashed between him and Sandosh in a dark lift was the equivalent of Hell for her. Travis put a hand on her arm and tried to calm her down. “Breathe, Hosh,” he whispered. “Breathe. We're gonna be fine. It's gonna be okay. Breathe with me.” She nodded and tried to slow down her gasps. Trip must have overheard, for he said, “I'm on it, Travis. Hang on.” Thor came back on the line with another squeal. “We've located the Orion's tug, Captain! They've been disabled by the wave as well, worse off than us!” “Define 'worse', Thor,” asked Sandosh. “Looks like their engines are completely gone, and they're sending out a distress signal.” Travis blew out a frustrated breath. It was beginning to feel uncomfortably warm in the lift, not to mention Hoshi's body pressing on his was giving him thoughts he'd much rather not have. Malcolm would kill me. Slowly. She'd calmed down a little, but he could still feel her racing heartbeat. He focused on their dilemma to distract himself. “We're the only ones close enough to them to be any good, right, Thor?” “That's right, Captain Travis.” “Captain Travis now,” Sandosh chuckled. He shifted out of his corner with an audible pop, and Travis winced at the sound. Hoshi jumped. “Hail them, Thor, and route the comm channel here. Captain Travis will speak to them.” “What?” Thor squeaked. “What?” Travis stammered at the same time. “ Reroute it to the lift?” Hoshi echoed. Sandosh's grin was toothier than usual and he reached over to pound Travis on the shoulder. “They know my voice, young one. Now, it's your turn to shine.” Travis tried not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. He was stuck in a lift with one Tellarite and one attractive (but panicked) communications officer, ready to make his first transmission as an acting captain of a Class-J transport. He noticed that Trip made no wisecrack remarks, which Travis was so grateful. “All right,” he said. “I still think this is a really screwed-up way to mark my captaincy.” Hoshi giggled, but it sounded on the edge of hysteria. “It'll be one to tell the grandkids, Travis.” “You can tell 'em that you were there to keep me from having delusions of grandeur,” he said warmly. He self-consciously pulled his shirt down in a nervous gesture, then cleared his throat again. “All right, Thor, patch 'em through.” “Answering their hail. Connection established, Captain.” He managed to sound somewhat authoritative, like Captain Archer on his Bridge. “Disabled tug, this is Captain John Raymond of the Raven.” He kept his alibi; he didn't want to take any chances on the Orions knowing “Travis Mayweather” from the Enterprise. “Our sensors show that you're in trouble. Do you need assistance?” The answer was immediate...and hysterical. “This is the tug Ragnaron out of Auring Five! We've lost our engines and our protective plating! Please help us!” Hoshi sounds calm compared to this, Travis thought. Aloud, he said,“We can help you. Can you stabilize your drift so we can pull alongside?” “Yes, yes, I think we can. Please hurry!” “Keep this channel open to the Bridge. Captain to Helm.” “Helm,” chirped Thor. “ Take us alongside their main docking port. Ragnaron, stand by.” “ Standing by,” said the unknown voice. It sounded a lot calmer, now that the situation wasn't as dire. Travis heard a hint of suspicion and belligerence as well. Sounding more like an Orion. They're getting ready for us...can't let them know we know what they're up to. “Thor, let me know when we're close to docking,” he said. “Yes, Captain.” Travis took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Trip! We need to get out of here now! I can't command a rescue mission from a damned turbolift!” Trip's voice came back in between snorts of laughter. That last sentence sounded hilarious, and Travis couldn't help but laugh himself. Even Hoshi managed a chuckle. “Almost there, Travis. Give me one more minute--” And just like that, the lift shuddered and began to move again. They all sighed in relief as the lights came back on. Hoshi managed to push herself off Travis with a nervous giggle. “Sorry,” she apologized. “Don't worry about it. It never happened.” Travis forced himself to think ahead. “Trip, get a repair party together. Sandosh, we need weapons. They're gonna be prepared for us.” Sandosh gave him his toothy grin again. “And we will be prepared for them.” The pressurization light turned green. Travis nodded at Sandosh and Thor, who proceeded him into the airlock. He climbed in after them, with Hoshi, Trip and the repair team behind. An Orion boy waited for them on the Ragnarok's side, sidearm drawn. Sandosh bared his teeth; the Orion's aqua eyes widened as he took a step back. “We come to help you and you greet us like this,” Sandosh growled in a deep voice. Travis stared at him; he sounded completely different, like a stereotypical Tellarite with a bad attitude. “But--” “How pathetic. Give me that.” With one swipe of his massive paw, he disarmed the Orion. The boy's long, thin arms were no match for Sandosh's bulk. “I should shoot you, but my captain would take the damages from my pay.” Travis pulled himself out of the airlock. The pure terror on the Orion's face was almost comical; Travis forced a stern look. “I'm Captain Raymond. You the captain?” The Orion took one more look at Sandosh and gulped. “N-no, I'm not. She--he's on the Bridge, sent me here to greet you.” Travis gave an exaggerated sigh. “Well, let's go meet your captain. Engineer, see about stabilizing their drift and getting their engines back on-line.” “Sure thing, Cap'n,” Trip drawled as he glowered at the Orion. “Where's your engine room?” The poor Orion pointed to the left and Trip waved his group in that direction. Travis, Hoshi and Sandosh followed the Orion farther down the corridor. The walkways were much larger than Enterprise's, much brighter and cheerful. Metal shone on doors and bulkheads, soft carpet shimmered under the the lights. Yeah, more like a pleasure yacht, Travis thought in disgust. Don't think I'd ever get myself one of these...too comfortable. “Fancy ship,” he said casually. “Your captain must be wealthy to afford one of these.” “It's not ours...really. We're just borrowing it,” said the boy. He shifted nervously. “Borrowing it for a while, that is. For this run. We're gonna give it back to him.” “Him? You mean your owner.” “Yeah, him.” Hoshi had her sensor out and studied the readings, then she showed the screen to Travis. The two Human signs were moving from the lower decks to the Bridge. Crawlways? Travis mouthed. Probably, Hoshi mouthed back. He gave a silent sigh of relief. That meant Malcolm and Philippe were alive and headed towards the nerve center of the ship. That was exactly what Travis expected them to do. He looked at the service ladder at the end of the corridor. “That goes up to the Bridge?” “Y-yes, sir. Captain. I mean--” Travis felt a flash of sympathy for him; he was only doing his job. His wide eyes and trembling hands betrayed his youth. Travis put a steadying hand on his shoulder. “It's all right. We'll just have a little chat, maybe arrange a trade, then we'll be on our way. We aren't pirates, you know.” The Orion blushed. “Um... neither are we. Really. We just do what we're told and they pay us. That's how we make a living.” “And you don't call yourselves pirates,” Sandosh muttered to himself. “Bah.” Travis sighed and rolled his eyes. “All right, kid. You lead, since you know where you're going. Sandosh, make sure he doesn't fall off the ladder in pure fright, okay?” The Orion started up the ladder, with Sandosh, Hoshi, and Travis following. Travis took his time, glancing below him every now and then. Finally, they reached the hatch leading up to the Bridge. The boy turned the wheel, cracked it open, and wriggled out. Sandosh motioned for Hoshi to hide behind him as he burst out like a cannonball. Several lasers flew past him as they rushed the defenders on the Bridge. Travis clambered up the last few rungs, blaster at the ready. By the time he climbed out, he saw several Orions already sprawled unconscious on the deck. He saw a blur headed for him and he dove out of the way. Another Orion flew past him and slammed into the wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hoshi come out of a crouch with a look of determination. Gotta ask her to show me some aikido moves, Travis thought. He spotted a flash of green skin and black hair, and the last wisp of bright fabric disappearing into a small hatch under the helm console. Travis reached out and grabbed a slender ankle. The woman shrieked, trying to scrabble away. “Oh no, you don't!” he shouted. He pulled, hearing her fingernails screech on the deck plating as she desperately tried to hang on. But Travis had the mass and the leverage and he reeled her back in like a fish. She immediately launched herself at him, those broken nails aimed at his throat. He pinned her arms behind her back and shoved her into the helm chair. Defiant blue eyes glared at him. Then she smirked and whispered, “I still think that collar would have looked stunning on you.” “Don't even think about it,” Travis replied. “You try it, and I'll wipe out more than that smirk.” “You're handsome when you're angry,” she wheedled as she ran a finger up and down his wrist. “Perhaps we can talk, come to an agreement...maybe we can work together against Montclaire and his Earth minions. We Boomers must band together to survive, you know.” Travis glanced at a amused Sandosh and a glowering Hoshi. Hoshi stepped down to the lower deck, grabbed the Orion woman's chin, and stared coldly into the Orion's eyes. “If you've harmed him, I'll make sure you--” She didn't finish the threat, for the lift doors exploded outward. Smoke poured onto the Bridge, but Sandosh touched a button for the fans to lift the smoke away. When it cleared, it revealed a surprised Malcolm Reed and Philippe Trieste. Both men were grimy from their crawl through the lower decks. The Armory Officer blinked in the sudden silence. “I suppose we're a few moments late--”Malcolm began, just before Hoshi nearly bowled him over. |
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