The last voyage of the starship Artemis

"All hands, abandon ship. I repeat; abandon ship."

In the shocked silence that followed Captain Kheren's implacable order, the groaning of the entire superstructure around the Artemis' bridge officers echoed the very emotional stirring that painfully teared them up within their own hearts.

Then, after an eternity that lasted but for a few seconds, aknowledgements poured out from the ship's internal communication channel from all departments of the wounded starship.

As he stood firm before his command chair, Kheren took several seconds to look at the conclusion of the research meeting report on the PADD handed to him by a pale Valencia Irksos as she slowly went back to her science station. T'Val, the other science officer at the interrupted meeting, had already taken the secondary turbolift at the other end of the access corridor so as to report as ordered to the shuttlebay for evacuation with the rest of the science crewmembers.

"Sir..." finally said Norbert Baoule a moment after he had stopped, zombie-like, before the auxilliary station, glancing at the sensors monitor ; " the whole exponential build up of trilithium effect that is affecting the Azimuth Horizon will go unimpeded if we don't deactivate the launched..."

"Understood," the Andorian answered, cutting him off.

A deep rumble shook the whole ship around them as if to smother any argument. Kheren still kept his four oculars on the orange and golden fires of the cosmic inferno before and around them as he handed the PADD to Doctor Nasaro-Myth for transfer to the ship's logs. He took barely a few more seconds to ponder on the whole situation before he gave his next order.

"Mister Syntron; you will be in command of the bridge module and in charge of the evacuation. Every escape craft will move out at maximum warp. From here, we know that their momentum will be enough for them all to clear the corona before their engines fail. Once back into normal space, you will leave an emergency buoy for the rest of the crew to be picked up by Starfleet and proceed at maximum warp towards the Alsea's coordinates to provide assistance."

Syntron looked quizzically at the Andorian captain who remained solely focused on the shifting image of the anomaly on the main viewscreen.

“Acknowledged” the Vulcan first officer replied before inquiring “If I may ask… what is your intention during this procedure Captain?”

"I'll pick up our marbles," simply answered Kheren, pointing at the erratic tactical monitor displaying intermittently the position of each of the fifty trilithium emitters they had already deployed.

Recognizing the danger involved within his intended metaphor, Syntron now gazed apprehensively at the commanding officer and explored deeper.

“How is it that you intend to accomplish this, Sir?”

Kheren was well aware that the Vulcan was asking outloud so that his captain would state the facts that his logical mind had already deduced; not for his benefit, but for that of the rest of the crew, their growing concerns clearly etched on their pale faces.

Normally, the Andorian would simply have sent them on their way with their orders; no commanding officer of a vessel had to explain himself and his orders, and they all knew that. But on the other hand, these menand women of so many varied species, cultures and planets had become over the time they had all served under his command much more than just fellow officers. Many of them had become close colleagues... a few maybe even more than that... By the rules of Starfleet, he owed them no explanation. But by the rules of the heart, he owed them everything.

"The auxilliary control room has the same multitask station as the one here on the bridge," he finally answered, pointing at Lieutenant Cheonghi's forward console. "I graduated top of my class from the Academy in helm and tactical training.Thanks to the superb design of the Ambassador class, one person can easily manage the whole ship from there; all the more easily now that I will not have to bother with two-thirds of it... or with the safety of the crew."

The ship groaned and shook to remind them that time was not on their side.

"The Alsea needs immediate assistance but this ship will never get to her in time. The bridge module can. As you will provide them support from our own crew, the Artemis and I can stay to repair the damage we have done."

With a telling stare, Kheren finished with a sentence he thought he would never himself have said.

"The needs of the many, Number One..."

Syntron did not need the remainder of that axiom completed for him; he knew it all too well.

With a telling look, the first officer stated “Understood Captain. We get to the Alsea expeditiously.”

He then addressed the remaining bridge officers in a loud voice, commanding “All hands, prepare for emergency bridge module separation. The Aegis has a mission of her own”

Then Syntron looked over to Tyvya as he stated “I need you and your team to help oversee the evacuation of the remaining crew into the shuttles left and the escape pods we made out of our last torpedo casings. Everyone needs to be accounted for and registered and then all confirmed data is to be sent to my PADD. Ensure that every craft moves out at maximum warp and coordinates their rendez-vous point.”

The giantess did not answer. She simply stood, looked a moment at her captain, then left with long, purposeful strides.

Turning and then facing Irksos at the science station, the first officer commanded “Lieutenant, I need you to work with chief engineer Robert Baoule and take charge of the preparation of the emergency buoy with a wide-range distress beacon. This will need to be ready for launch by the time we fall back into normal space.”

"Aye, Sir," she aknowledged after audibly gulping for air.

“Mister Snow, I will be counting on your continued flight and navigational expertise. Prepare us for warp six after the separation is complete.”

"I might even be able to shave off a few million kilometers for you with the proper trajectory," he promised, not daring to look at his commanding officer standing behind him.

Now looking at the chief operations officer, Syntron stated “Mister Cheonghi… prepare us for Aegis separation.”

"Separation sequence encoded and ready to go at your command, Sir," the Edoan answered, his voice even more shrill than usual, his face cringing with obvious apprehension and hesitancy even as his three hands finished tapping the keys on his console.

The ship again trembled and groaned as if expressing his own sentiments, as those of the entire crew.

Then, glancing back at the commanding officer the first officer stated discretely “Somehow Captain it doesn’t seem fitting to leave you out here alone to clean up a situation that I am responsible for designing and implementing. This should be my responsibility.”

"Responsibility falls to the commanding officer, Mister Syntron," retorted Kheren, now looking at him, "not to he who follows orders and do his best. We can try and resolve this with minimal lives at risk, namely only mine, while we may all help save lives as well. I am in command; I have to and will assume full responsibility."

The bridge slanted slightly as a deep, ominious rumble followed a sudden flare of gold and orange on the screen.

"Metaphasic shields down to seventy-five percent!" now warned Baoule from the engineering station. "Inertial dampeners straining beyond specs limits! Sir, I don't know how you will manage to fly her, avoid those fractures and flares, eliminate those emitters and all the while hold her together if..."

"If I do not, Engineer, then you will all know what not to do to succeed the next time you try," cut off the Andorian.

Listening to the report from the chief engineer and the Captain’s response, Syntron straightened up and prepared his resolve to counter the Captain’s order.

“Sir, under these hazardous conditions along with the metaphasic shielding currently diminishing and the known debilitating affects of these surroundings on your Andorian physiology, I am requesting that you reconsider these orders. We can complete the evacuation and see to the safety of the majority of these crew members vacated from the ship upon the completion of the Aegis separation. Once they are away from this region and secure, we can move out of range of the affects of the anomaly and attempt to contact the Alsea to confirm its actual status. If they are not in dire need of our immediate assistance or if we would be unable to even arrive in time to aid them, then we could team up using these remaining two sections of the Artemis and a very limited crew. At that point we could attempt to resolve our situation with the emitters and the anomaly… together. However Sir, you must have a non-Andorian officer with you to assist in case you become delirious or incapacitated. It would be highly illogical and most likely fatal for you to remain on this saucer alone in this attempt.”

At that moment, the Azimuth Horizon itself underlined the Vulcan's words. The entire vessel groaned and tilted to one side as it slightly spun on it's axis like an antique sailship in a sea storm. They all grappled the nearest fixed object to steady themselves as even their PIDs strained to keep them from falling in a heap over one another and Kheren, the only Andorian among them all, almost fell back into his command chair as his antennae retracted a moment into his white-haired skull in their unique but most incapaciting way.

"Sir! The emitters effect in increasing exponentially!" reported Irksos still gripping tightly the science console.

"So is the strain on our superstructure and the drain on our shields!" added the chief engineer, seat glistening on his blad, dark skull. "The auxilliary craft can make it out... but not the rest of the ship! We simply can't get enough speed out of impulse engines alone before one of those subspace fractures..."

Kheren held up a hand to interrupt his gloomy report as he straightenend himself, his eyes turned inward as he thought about Syntron,s words. Knowing him as he did now, he realized that, if he denied him, his first officer would uneeringly follow the most logical course of action from the current situation and his own convictions; either releive him from duty under regulation 361 section C for attempted suicide as proof of being unfit for command... or simply nerve pinch him to take his place... if not both.

All this went through his mind in a fraction of a second.

"Very well, Number One; you may join my private party... but only you."

The finality of his tone shut off all other mouths that were starting to open around him. There was no more room nor time for any further protest or argument.

As the main turbolift allowed the first evacuees to come to the bridge, kheren went to the opposite door and stopped before it to turn and speak again, above the ship's groans.

"Doc, You will take command of the evacuation and the rescue mission."

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed the astonished Deltan.

"You are the highest ranking officer left, you have bridge command experience... and you took a solemn vow to save lives. No one is better for the task. Counselor Lyrya will assume your position. The big chair is yours now, Doctor."

"Oh... joy..." said Elliago Nasaro-Myth with a resigned tone, closing his eyes and sighing audibly, a sound that reminded them all of the stirrings of the battered hull around them.

For an instant, the Andorian captain let his stare roam over all the pale, silent faces turned with widened eyes toward him, until his eyes finally fell to his right on the bronze plaque hanging on the wall next to him.

The Sun never saw Her Like Outside Olympus, it read under the name of the ship and the names of all of those who had conceived and built her almost a century ago; the last of the magnificent Ambassador class starships.

And never will it do again, he added in his own thoughts, with a strange, bittersweet mixture of pride and regret.

Then, he stood straight and lifted his chin high in the typical Andorian gesture of respect but, at the same time, with an almost Human expression of defiance.

"Gentlebeings, it has been my greatest honor serving with you all."

As the ship continued to quiver, Syntron grabbed his PADD and then awkwardly stepped up behind the Captain.

He then turned back to momentarily face the chief operations officer.

“Mister Cheonghi… begin a forty-five second countdown to bridge module separation starting now.

"Aye... aye, Sir..." blurted out the wide-eyed Edoan. "And... good luck."

The first officer then turned back to face the commanding officer and stated “Ready to proceed Captain”

In the freezing silence that again gripped everyone on the bridge, Kheren and Syntron exited through the left hand door and went to the secondary turbolift at the end of the short corridor that stretched beyond.

"Deck 5, he ordered the turbolift.

As they rode down half the levels left of the Artemis, the Andorian spoke without looking at the taller Vulcan standing stoically next to him.

"You had a good plan there, Number One; fall back, regroup and tackle again the problem on two fronts..."

Before Syntron could say anything, there was a deep rumble and a deeper tremor that almost sent them on the floor, grabbing the circular walls of the cabin just quickly enough to more or less keep their footing.

"A shame the storm did not agree with it," Kheren finished with a curious and incongruous mix of regret and amusement in his deep voice.

In a few quick steps beyond the opening door, they reached the emergency bridge, the standard auxilliary control room aboard every Starfleet cruiser since the legendary Constitution class of almost two centuries before. Kheren shifted a chair in the center of the nav-tac joined console as he pointed the multitask station in front of it to Syntron. The Vulcan would be overseeing both sensors and the status of their hull and shields while he would use his piloting and tactical skills together, launching the ramming torpedoes and keeping them on course... and alive long enough to disable the fifty trilithium emitters they had infected the anomaly with.

As he sat between the two stations and their numerous and different controls, he soon came to truly envy his Edoan Chief of Ops Cheonghi and his extra arm.

After a short while and several more tremors making the entire vessel tremble and swerve like a frail raft in a fierce storm, they heard a loud clanging echoing from right above their heads. They both instantly knew that it was the bridge module detaching itself from the rest of the battered saucer section. On the main viewer before them, they could now see it moving off to follow out of the danger zone in flashes of forming warpfields the three remaining shuttlecrafts that had launched from their last shuttlebay left, all of them framed by two dozen bright flares made by the torpedo lifepods shooting out of their two tubes at warp 9, disappearing beyond the enflamed border of the Azimuth Horizon.

The Aegis, the bridge module enhanced barely months ago after their third mission, was itself warp capable, heavily armored, armed with phasers and microtorpedoes with full shields and jamming emitters. With luck, it would arrive in time to support the Alsea against whatever threatened them as a small but capable escort vessel... or, at worse, provide a full complement of cross-trained specialists and experienced bridge officers to provide assistance in health and repairs to survivors... if any.

It was much to ask for out of fate to be sure. But that was the only way to bring faith to comply with one's hope; demand everything out of it and willfully push it in the right direction.

And so, despite the dire situation he and his first officer were left in, he now sighed with relief. At least, his crew was going to be safe. That had been his first and main concern since this whole grand operation had been planned... in fact, since the day that same fate had thrown him forcibly into that command chair.

And if it was to be his last... then so be it.

"Alright, Number One; see if you can find us those trilithium emitters in all that smoke and fire. Time to sweep that floor clean."

As the captain of the Artemis was finally making peace with his own turbulent thoughts and emotions, the door to the emergency bridge swished open. Then, his eyes opened even wider than the parting doors seeing the unmistakable silhouette that entered.

"What in the blue hell are you doing here? You were ordered to evacuate with the rest of the crew!"

"My apologies, Sir," Tyvya said with not even a hint of regret or true apology in her stern voice. "I missed the launch because I had to bring you these."

As she went behind him to sit in the tactical chair beside him, the Andorian giantess deposited four objects in his lap. Two were his bellium ushaan-tors, the transluscent crescend-shaped blades proclaiming his duelling mastery, gleaming like her icy blue eyes. The other two were small display cases; one contained his Starfleet medals; the other, four Andorian wedding rings, three of them blackened. These were his only possessions of values and she obvioulsy had gone to his cabin to retrieve them and bring them to him.

Kheren didn't know if he had to feel grateful or angry at her. In fact, he felt both ways at the moment and it gave a strange tone to his now strained voice.

"Your duty did not require you to..."

"This has nothing to do with duty!"

Her retort wa so sudden and forceful that, for a moment, he was left speechless. Then, and for the first time, he truly saw and understood that gleam she had in her eyes almost every time she had been talking to him; especially like that; especially now.

And that too left him speechless for a moment more.

There came a sudden, stronger tremor around them; but he did not feel it. The one in his heart was way much stronger.

"No other soul would I ever share the end or eternity with," he said then.

"Always loved that story," Tyvya said in response as she slid her chair before the tactical station as Kheren returned to fully face the helm.

Then, to the inquisitive high eyebrow of Syntron, he returned a slight nod.

"Romeo and Juliet... the original Andorian version of course."

Syntron knew the deeper reason for Tyvya’s presence and the gathering of his coveted items, but he would not betray her confidence. He also knew that there would be no way that under these circumstances would the Captain be able to remove her from the post that she had just assumed. Apparently the Andorian commander realized this as well.

Breaking the tension a bit, the first officer responded “If you are referring to the old earth allegorical play set in Verona, Italy of the uncontrolled amorous tendencies of youth along with bitter rivalries of families and clans, it is indeed a symbolic tragedy demonstrating the futility of allowing unrestrained emotions to overshadow logic.”

Both Andorians looked at him with stone faces; but their antennae were curving sharply inward in unbridled amusement.

"Spoken like a true Vulcan," commented Kheren with mirth in his voice.

"Yes... how sad it is that they miss so much..." added Tyvya with the same tone.

And then, the entire ship groaned and trembled as if in protest, bringing them all back to the here and now.

"Alright people," ordered Kheren, all four oculars back to the piloting console, "we have a job to do and little means and time left to do it. Number One, find us those probes. Lieutenant Tyvya, be ready to fire those duds."

"Hitting even one of them in this storm will be the wildest stroke of luck!" observed the giantess as her fingers readied manual firing of their two torpedo launchers and linking her tactical sensors to those of Syntron's multitask board.

"With one, yes..." agreed the captain. "That is why you will send a full spread of ten at each single target in a widespread pattern and at point blank range. I will get us into position as soon as Mister Syntron finds us one."

Moving his left hand over the science monitor of his multitask station, Syntron began using the available sensors to detect the positions of the trilithium emitters. Fortunately, he could use the available sensory instrumentation in the all-purpose console to locate a reconfigured device one at a time in a manner similar to how ancient Earth pilots would navigate their crafts through vicious storms using instrumental readings of spatial locations rather than visual cues within the environment; which in their present circumstances had nullified their visual acuity.

Although their positions may have been modified slightly in reaction to the storm’s affects, the emitters were basically still operating in their deposited positions. Syntron had the position of each probe mapped out on his PADD which he uploaded to his current console. Then once they were in range of each emitter, the first officer could set the sensors to detect the emission of trilithium to fine-tune their current placement.

“Captain, I have located the position of nearest emitter. I am now forwarding the coordinates to Lieutenant Tyvya’s station. The accuracy of the position is approximately 92.35%. Therefore you may be able to reduce the number of torpedoes as well to three per emitter if launched in close triangular formation.”

"Recommendation noted."

A long rumble and a groan around them then seemed to voice some deep protest.

"But let us stay on the safe side. Lieutenant, fire tube one only, Nova pattern, full spread... on my mark."

"Tube one, Nova pattern, full spread... on your mark, Sir," the towering Andorian woman beside him aknowledged, again all business.

Before their eyes, the swirling fires of the anomaly grew in intensity as they swerved between massive remnants of planets that had been consumed by the immense cosmic storm. Now crushed on themselves by their own mass to the size of buildings, they were nevertheless still big enough and more than dense enough to pulverize the crippled starship at the merest contact, even through their depleting shields. Soon enough, something emerged from the golden waves of gases they were plowing through; it was small, dark, barely visible if only with the blinking beacon that flashed out of it. And it's only when it became close enough for the sensors to render it in computerized visuals on their viewer that Kheren gave the word in a cold, calm voice; the sure sign of strain in an Andorian.

"Fire."

"Torpedoes away," answered Tyvya with the exact same tone.

From under the belly of the battered saucer, one torpedo tube lighted up. A large blob of light shot out and, barely a few hundred meters away, spread out into five smaller lights in a star-shaped pattern. Two of them collided with the flashing object a scant dozens of kilometers beyond that, their inert mass breaking it apart along with them in a strangely subdued impact that left no spark of explosion; just a sudden shower of tiny debris spreading out like dust in the winds of the storm.

"Target destroyed," confirmed the giantess from the sensors relay Syntron had provided to her tactical monitor.

"Smooth sailing all the way," commented Kheren, more a wish than an actual observation.

And at that moment, a violent shake almost made them all bang their heads on their consoles despite the PIDs they were still wearing.

"You're sure you can keep us afloat?" asked Tyvya, her four oculars straight at the viewing screen and the fiery tendrils of plasma now suddenly lashing out around the crippled vessel.

"You worry about those targets, I will worry about the helm," he shot back as the trembling ship swirved away from the the rekindled fire.

"It's my head I'm worried about."

"Complain to Synron then; he's managing the shields... Now, one down... forty-nine to go."

"Thus said last the hero, as rained down upon all the fires of heaven," then said Tyvya in a sentencious tone.

"I do not recall that quote," finally observed Kheren after a moment.

"Farewell Artemis... unpublished... yet... she shot back.

Silence now fell upon them all as they concentrated on their perilous task.

They had completely lost track of time as they swam over the waves of flames. Even the shipboard chronometer could not

accurately maintain the correct timeframe; the uneven interference of the anomaly and of the subspace fractures, crakling

their endings in temporal flux at them from all sides, sometimes even from several directions at once, were also throwing

the moving neutronium masses caught in the eddies and currents of plasma in a frighteningly chaotic dance all around them.

Nevertheless, each time Syntron reported the location of a trilithium emitter within the fog of inert gases they were navigating,a sudden burst of small blue flares amidst the coppery mist made streaks of lights that ended in tiny dust clouds as one or more inert torpedoes collided with a probe and obliterated it. Then, a sudden spurt of orange and gold flames forced them to steer away before being fried by the rekindled plasma gas around them.

They were more than halfway through their dangerous hunt when Syntron's sensors flashed a new set of data before his eyes.

Monitoring the plasma reactions in the regions of the anomaly surrounding the battered remnants of Artemis saucer, Syntron perceived a new trend starting to emerge. He quickly recalculated the data once again before addressing the commanding officer.

“Captain, it would seem that our initial speculation about the trilithum emitters affect on the plasma reactions may have been correct after all, but we overestimated the number of emitters required to accomplish this goal. I initially hypothesized that we needed a complete deionization of the plasma to contain the overall reactions within the anomaly, but it now appears that as an alternative we could use these emitters to stabilize the reactions… similar to how control rods were used in old Earth style fission reactors to control and contain nuclear reactions within the reactor core. According to my sensor readings, they are now recording that the plasma reactions are beginning to stabilize within the anomaly as the number of emitters has diminished. I’ve calculated that if we nullify one more trilithium emitter, the effect should bring down the reactions to a state of equilibrium; at least enough to establish a balance between the plasma reactions and the level of diffusion. The result of this may not be enough to completely extinguish the anomaly, but theoretically sufficient enough to forestall any further growth of the anomaly on either side of the...”

Just as the first officer was explaining his revelation regarding the anomaly, several warning signals appeared simultaneously on the engineering console as the ship began to shutter and reverberate. The first officer then swiftly switched his attention to the engineering monitors.

“Captain, impulse power is down to ninety-five point three percent and is now beginning to deplete rapidly. Metaphasic shielding down to fifty-three percent and our structural integrity field has diminished to forty-seven percent.”

As if to accentuate these announcements, the saucer began to rumble and grind with the sound of painful twisting metal echoing throughout the remaining saucer.

Syntron continued with his report, though now at an elevated volume.

“Sir, our hull is compromised on decks 7 to 9, and now it is beginning to buckle on both deck 5 and 6. Inertial dampeners are also being strained well beyond design limits… if they continue at this rate…”

Then looking up briefly from the console to the Captain, the first officer informed him calmly “…they may collapse at any moment.”

At that moment several additional warning signals kicked in. Syntron looked back down at the monitors and persisted even louder with his report.

“Life-support systems are beginning to fail Captain… and the remaining automated emergency back-up systems have just activated…”

"Cut life support from all decks and sections except for the emergency bridge," immediately ordered Kheren. " Reduce life support in here to the barest minimal requirements for Vulcans and Andorians, divert all reserve power to structural integrity field... and find us that last probe!"

As the conditions on the remaining saucer section were reduced to barely survivable levels, Syntron continued his analysis of the nearest available emitter. He allowed only minimal energy to remain at his station in order to continue utilizing the console and sensors.

The entire ship swerved to one side as if caught in a sudden broadside current and the bridge tilted like the deck of a sailship caught in a sea storm before righting itself again.

"Mister Syntron... "

The temperature rose sharply within the auxilliary command center they were occupying; quite comfortable actually for a Vulcan, especially one well trained as many of his brethen in mind over body techniques, but almost beyond the tolerance level of iceworlders like Andorians; especially for Kheren, his mutated genes making him even more sensitive to heat than normal Andorians like Tyvya. But they were both sweating profusely now, filling the rarefied air with a sharp fruity scent. The low level of breathable air remained manageable for Syntron because of the same mental disciplines and a life spent within a much thinner atmosphere that Earth's while the partially osmotic system of his cobalt-blooded colleagues did all this naturally for them. Nevertheless, with the gravity also reduced to a tenth of normal, this was anything but comfortable... and added to the stress of being buffeted within the battered remnant of a starship by a raging plasma storm crisscrossed by crackling subspace fractures, Kheren was glad he had spared those inhuman conditions, and their incoming fate he now dreaded, to the rest of his gallant crew.

He just hoped now that, despite all odds, they would be spared that grim fate as well.

"Mister Syntron... now would be a good time."

After plotting the location of the final target, Syntron sent the revised coordinates to both Kheren and Tyvya.

“Coordinates of the emitter sent” the first officer stated as he then gazed back up to the viewscreen.

It would now be in their capable hands to accomplish this challenging task before the saucer section continued to collapse or met some other undesirable fate.

As they were shaken each time a bolt of subspace lightning flashed by or a plasma flare blinded them, the Andorian giantess kept reporting over the increasing groans and rumbles with a tense but steady voice.

"Target in range in 5... 4... loosing optimal distance and firing angle... Now back on course, in range in 4... 3... 2... firing angle lost, compensating... ready to fire in 4... 3... 2... 1..."

"Both tubes , full spread, Fire!"

Echoes of Captain Kheren's voice followed the ten small stars that, just as the whole emergency bridge tilted sharply again under a sudden wave of plasma, shot out from under them and spread out towards the tiny beacon of light flashing amidst a golden fog streaked with white lightning bolts and flaming flares of orange light.

And so they watched, helpless, as they all disappeared within the swirling maelstrom of fire and smoke.

"Readying next full volley!" shot Tyvya between two expletives and over the din of creaking hull plates and wall consoles spurting sparks and electric arcs as her fingers flew over the torpedo firing controls.

Kheren said nothing. His hand struck hard his own panel, crakling the covering and sending forward the entire ship in a sudden full impulse run.

A second later, there was at their feet a distant booming they didn't even feel. On the lower part of the screen, lights and debris rose briefly like when one splashed his feet at a run through a mass of dust and sand or snow and ice.

"Target destroyed!" reported the towering chief of tactical with a releived sigh.

"Well done, people," sighed Kheren in turn.

Then, as if in protest, the Artemis buckled violently and slid again on a side and at a sharp angle, this time staying in it's skewed angle as the suddenly revived fires of the plasma inferno filled their eyes with flickers of ocre and gold through their viewing screen. Even their PIDS struggled to keep them in their seats with arms gripping consoles in earnest, sparks and smoke erupting all around them.

Syntron toiled at the multitask station attempting to gather accurate readings despite the wavering illumination and diminishing life support within the shuddering damaged saucer.

As the symptoms of the violent reactions then calmed for a moment aboard the remaining section of the once mighty ambassador-class starship, the first officer rechecked the sensor results.

“Captain, sensor readings indicate that the plasma reactions are now renewing and stabilizing.”

Cross-referencing the data the first officer elaborated.

“It also appears that no further expansion is registered beyond the last reported area.”

"Good work, Lotus Fleet," Kheren exclaimed with a releived sigh and rubbing his sleeve accross his heavily sweating brow, thinking of all the other ships involved in this tall order of theirs. If their efforts were now succeeding, obviously the Lotus, the Alsea, the McKenzie, the Spectre and the rest of the fleet had done their own part.

After additional analysis of the data, Syntron looked up from the console as he stated to the commanding officer in a controlled yet astonished tone.

“These readings imply that the anomaly itself has shifted into a more stabilized state of containment. As a result, I am also reading no further collapse of the interspatial aperture. It would appear… perhaps as a consequence of this, that the wormhole has established a level of stability as well; at least for the time being. In addition, the remaining trilithium emitters are active and secured in their position and function.”

The goods news just expounded by the first officer was then punctuated by another trashing by the forces emanating within their precarious area of space. It was as if this phenomenon was purposely reminding them that their minor accomplishments would pale compared to the dangers still surrounding them.

Feeling yet another extensive jolt to the saucer, the first officer checked the sensors.

“A subspace fracture caught us at the periphery from behind us, and it is steadily pulling us towards it. At its current rate, penetration will occur in twenty point three seconds.”

"And it was going so well..." commented Tyvya, also sweating under the increasing heat from the anomaly their reduced life support and shields were exposing them to.

Then, additional concussions occurred as Syntron continued with his report.

“Captain; another subspace fracture has formed under us…. and yet another is emerging above us as well. This is cutting off all potential escape routes since the rekindled plasma reaction is now preventing any attempt to move forward as well with the ship in its current status. In addition, the anomaly is confusing our long range sensors, making positioning and course plotting of virtually any type at this point virtually impossible.”

Gazing back to the commanding officer, the Vulcan stated the obvious.

“As it currently stands captain, we are now trapped here.”

"Status report," asked Kheren between two sinister groans from the hull around them.

Looking down at the engineering section of the console, Syntron rattled-off the current ship status one at a time; which was equivalent to adding drops of despair onto an already gloomy outcome.

“In terms of our overall ship status: metaphasic shield currently registering at fifty-three percent; at this rate, it will collapse completely either in thirty-four minutes or as soon as our impulse power reserves will be all drained. Hull plating is at eighty-one percent, but will dissipate in fourteen point three minutes once shielding is lost, and then it will be directly exposed to the plasma reaction of the anomaly. Meanwhile, our structural integrity field is continuing to collapse and only battery power is now maintaining it… which currently is reading at ninety-four percent.”

The ship creaked and again tilted and turned like so much dead wood amidst furious waves.

"Helm is dead! Even thrusters are not responding... I have no control over anything!" the Andorian blurted out, his whole body drenched in sweat, antennae swingin wildly and popping in and out of his thick white mane plastered to his earless skull.

"My sensors are inoperative... tactical systems shuting down automatically to avoid overload..." now added Tyvya, herself also sweating and swaying in her seat as the dizzying effect of the anomaly on her own senses started to affect her as well. " And we left all our escape pods in those Romulans' faces back there..."

The ship itself then let out a long moan, like a dying beast drowning.

Now... what again did Captain Picard said James Kirk's final words had been? wondered Kheren at that very moment as he fought the overwhelming dizziness that was rapidly fogging his mind.

And then, it came back to him... to his mind and down to his lips.

"Well... it was... fun."

Amazingly, his rigid face now was grinning widely.

He nodded respectfully to the blurred form before him that he knew was that of his admirable Vulcan First Officer, then glanced to his right. Tyvya was now holding his callused hand in hers.

She too was grinning.

In their final endeavor of somehow subduing the plasma within the anomaly, Syntron recognized that they had actually accomplished more than what they had initially set out to achieve with their mere three member crew. However, at this point with no options remaining to curtail the impending destruction of the remainder of their battered vessel, it would seem that this success was about to be paid for with their ultimate sacrifice.

Gazing momentarily as the two Andorians shared a tender last moment, the first officer of the once fierce and proud starship Artemis merely leaned back and closed his eyes as he placed himself in a deep meditative Vulcan trance in preparation for their final moment together.

The words of Sydney Carlton in the Charles Dickens classic tale swirled into his thoughts.

It is a far far better thing that I do than I have ever done before. A far better rest that I go…

Before their eyes came a final eruption of searing, blinding light, like billions of stars swirling and exploding in pure blue-white glory.