USS Churchill

Posted on Tue Jun 30th, 2015 @ 7:40pm by Captain James Arnhem
Edited on on Tue Jun 30th, 2015 @ 10:05pm

Mission: Before the End
Location: Bridge
Timeline: January 2387

“Captain” he tried again “Captain” this time pressed his hand against the old mans cheek. There was no movement. Perhaps he was dead. “Sir” Lt Morgan questioned again.

The bridge was still cloaked in red and grey lighting; it had been for several days since the last attack. Lt Morgan turned back to the Helm. It had been only He and Captain Arnhem for 3 days. The Captain had evacuated the bridge when life support became critical. The Executive officer had been incapacitated and remained in sickbay along with more than two dozen others.

It seemed life the Churchill had been to hell and back and perhaps that was an understatement in the current situation. Morgan thumped his fist into his palm. What the heck was he to do? For a moment it felt as if the world had collapsed. The sensor readings showed they were still 70 hours away from Federation space at current warp capabilities. The Under space corridor seemed awfully slow.

“What’s the current speed Lt” Arnhem said with a cough of blood, he lifted his right hand, even through the pain and the weakness. He’d been pinned to his command chair for 4 days now, after the bridge beam collapsed and swung down into his left shoulder.

“Oh my, Sir. I thought you dead.” Lt Morgan made to move towards Arnhem. At the moment he could have jumped for joy and hugged the old man he’d known for 4 years, his friend and mentor. But he stopped as he saw Arnhem’s hand lower and a motion to stop him.

“Report Morgan… please.” He said softly as it took all his energy not to pass out.

“Yes. Yes of course” Morgan turned back to the consoles dim lights. “We are making Warp 4. Three days until we reach Federation Space, but I fear it will be another 3 days until we are within communication range of any reliable receiver.”

Arnhem’s head slumped sideways for a moment, either from the verge of death of just fatigue. His temple made contact with the beam and roused him again. “Very good Lt Morgan. Increase speed. Warp 8.9”

“Err, is that wise Sir?” Morgan said sheepishly to his commanding officer and looking back at the readings from engineering.

“Time. Time is precious my dear friend. We must reach Federation Space sooner, or we risk the lives of all the crew in sickbay”

“But the ship could fly apart?”

For a moment James Arnhem said nothing, his mind calculating the probabilities and his actions. “We have to collapse the corridor Morgan. Either we exit now, too far from anywhere or increase and exit closer to help. I know it difficult and it maybe you think I’ve lost my mind. God only knows I feel like I have.” His eyes glazed for a second, his once bright blue eyes faded dark. “The Zinxati are still following.”

“I don’t see anything on the sensors though” said Morgan, looking even more perplexed.

“I can feel them, whatever they did, I can feel them. Here!” he pressed his numb fingers to his head. “I. I don’t kn…” Arnhem slumped forward this time and fell into unconsciousness.

“Captain!”

There was no response this time. The choice was now his, Lt Morgan acting commanding officer of the USS Churchill. Arnhem had never been known to be wrong, had he?

He leaned forward and moved his fingers in an upward motion and increased the ships spead to 8.9. The power would last only a few hours. But it was his captain’s last command. There was nothing else he could do but feel the rumble and the shake of the ship. At near exhaustion, Peter Morgan leaned back in the operational chair and slept.

In his unconsciousness, James’s mind raced through the years of his life until it reached his most painful memories. The death and loss of his family. Had his body been aware of the situation, it would have been throwing its self sideways and legs twisting in earnest for freedom and release from its nightmare. Instead, it remained motionless, almost lifeless except for the tiniest beats of his hearts pumping blood through the many veins and arteries, silently working to keep the man alive.

He was standing in his garden, his son by his side, the sun had just begun to set, casting a burnt orange sky. A light breeze danced along the surface of the trimmed grasses. He could hear his wife in the background, walking towards them. A bright light flashed across his eyes and then the sound of emptiness. He was calling out and scrambling on his knees, searching for them, finding nothing but cold hard bare surfaces. Suddenly feeling closed in. He could see nothing but whiteness in his eyes. Panicking, kicking at something that pressed against his chest until he could hardly breathe, then a loud popping sound and he free.

He could see again. It was morning, tea resting on the night stand with his glasses. It all seemed familiar, yet not. Then he was in the midst of a city. That collapsed around him. The dust and ash engulfed his body in a swift motion, choking his life, his eyes filling with water; he opened them and found himself surrounded by the bodies of the dead children. The children he had told would live; they would survive and grow old in a new world.

40 minutes had passed since Peter Morgan had drifted into a peaceful slumber, the first he had had for a long time. He awoke leaning against the console. He was back onboard the bridge and not at home in his garden in Idaho.

It was unreal, the Churchill had continued on without either himself or the captain on the bridge; ah the captain he thought. He felt a twang of pain and then stood, walked towards the view screen and pressed his against the material as if testing it was still there. The vibrations grew stronger and the ship shook every few minutes.

“Computer, reroute power from secondary storage in cargo bay 2 to the communication system.”

“Currently not advisable while travelling at warp 8.9” The computers responded.

“Override” a moment later the systems responded and the Churchill vibrated “This is Lt Morgan to main sickbay.”

“Morgan, where the hell have you been, is Arnhem there? We have been trying to get through for days. The upper decks have been sealed and…”

“Doctor, I know its been hard, but the Captain did it all for the best. But its going to get rougher, I’ve used secondary power from, ell that doesn’t matter. I just wanted to let you know he did it. He got us all home, we are almost there.”

“Morgan” Doctor Schoinass said, his voice lowered to a whisper, a natural reaction in certain circumstances. “Where’s James”

“Sleeping” Morgan said as he turned to see the Captain still sitting there. Though his voice filled with a finality.