Adalaxia Brigid Zeen to Rynwon Ka’quila Ea’arhone, Stardate 88343.61:
“We’ll be breaking orbit soon and heading off for an extended exploration mission in the Delta Volanis Cluster shortly. I can’t deny the appeal of that. I’m looking forward to charting nebulae and cataloguing new plants. It’s definitely time for a little peace and quiet.”
Location: Gamma Perseus III (stellar coordinates 188945.4/34735.7/215.3)
“This really isn’t what I had in mind.”
A disruptor beam whined overhead, drowning out Brigid’s voice.
“Excuse me, captain?” T’Pell slouched back behind the makeshift barrier of cargo containers and spare structural components and checked the energy level of her hand phaser.
Brigid glanced at her own phaser. “Just talking to myself.”
T’Pell shook her head before taking another shot over the barrier. “An extremely illogical custom. Surely you already know what you are going to say?” Brigid had to glace at T’Pell’s expression to make certain she wasn’t smiling. Of all the Vulcans she’d ever met, her chief security officer was the first she thought might actually tell a joke.
“Sometimes you just need to express things…to the universe I suppose.” She turned and inched upward, preparing to take her own shot. Before she could, T’Pell reached up and tugged her back down, just as a disruptor blast hit the edge of the barrier, showering them both with sparks.
“Their fire is spaced in 1.3 second intervals—the average recharge cycle of Gorn hand weapons. Perhaps we should talk about your irrational mystical beliefs once we return to orbit.”
“Sounds logical. And thank you.” Brigid took a deep breath, putting the close call behind her.
“Deborah Sampson to Zeen.”
“Zeen here.” To her right and left, both T’Pell and crewman Koric, the security escort she’d brought along, rose and fired in unison. “How are things looking from up there, Sayvok?”
“The Gorn ship continued to hold a position just outside weapons’ range, Captain. Their intent appears to be preventing us from sending you any aid.”
Another disruptor blast tore through the air overhead.
“Is that Captain Zeen? I demand to talk with… What? Do not raise that eyebrow at me! I am not leaving the bridge until I talk some sense into the Captain!”
The gruff, nasal voice of Ba’ab, the Deborah Sampson’s Chief Medical Officer, exploded from Brigid’s combadge. “Shouldn’t you be in sickbay, Doctor? If the situation in orbit turns bad, you’ll be needed down there.”
“Oh yes, good point, Captain. I surely belong in sickbay, just as much as the Captain belongs…oh, I don’t know…shall we say ON THE BRIDGE!”
Brigid took a moment to suppress a smile before she could respond with the proper note of authority in her voice. “Believe it or not, Doctor, there’s nowhere I’d rather be right now.” A stray disruptor bolt hit the ceiling, rupturing a coolant pipe.
Sayvok cut in. “There is a proper time and place for this discussion, Doctor…”
“Yes, well. I am not leaving the bridge until it’s necessary. There needs to be some voice of reason here…”
“I have complete faith in your immobility, Doctor.” Without waiting for a response, Brigid continued. “Sayvok, any more information on the Gorn down here?”
“Yes, Captain. There only appear to be two groups in the facility. You are engaging one now.”
T’Pell tapped her own combadge. “I believe we have the upper hand against our current adversaries.” The disruptor fire had become less frequent, while the warble of phasers remained constant.
“The other Gorn should not present any serious additional difficulty. Though the second group is moving toward your location, we detect only two individuals, both lightly armed. I cannot imagine…”
A sudden impact against the barrier sent Brigid, T’Pell, crewman Koric, Four of Twelve—the Deborah Sampson’s chief engineer—and Ensign Rivers—the information science specialist who had beamed down with them—all spawling. After a dazed moment, Brigid lifted a heavy mesh screen off herself and turned to see a huge Gorn rip a second chunk out of the hallway floor and, advancing, lift it high above its head.
She scrambled out of the way as the mass of metal slammed into the spot she’d just occupied with a sickening crunch and and skid several meters.
The caught the eyes of her crew and motioned toward the massive Gorn. A barrage of phaser fire caught it in mid-stride. It grunted and its personal shield flickered wildly, but it did not stop.
Brigid noticed the prone, motionless form of T’Pell directly in the Gorn’s path. It noticed her at the same time, tearing a thick structural support from the wall as if it were made of paper. She fired at it, rushing to drag her Chief Security Officer to safety.
She arrived at T’Pell’s side, disruptor and phaser beams flying overhead with newfound intensity. Green blood was smeared over the side of her face, oozing from an ugly gash on her forehead. Brigid pushed at the container, toppling it over with a crash, just as the shadow of the Gorn fell over her. She shot, without aiming. Her phaser struck the metal pipe, and the Gorn dropped it with a dull thud, bellowing and shaking its scorched hands. She shot again, and its shield flickered one last time, collapsing in a blue flash. It swung at her and she rolled, smashing into the wall, momentarily breathless. The Gorn bellowed once more, and stepped toward her. She barely had time to thumb the power of her phaser to full and fire.
The beam hit the Gorn square in the chest, instantly vaporizing it. Brigid winced as the wave of heat washed over her.
Brigid's Log 