Fishing in the Dark - Part III
Posted on Wed Jun 17th, 2026 @ 4:40am by Chief Petty Officer Biv Th'shrolneq & Commander Daynah Ral & Lieutenant Commander Zuub & Lieutenant Katya Davi & Lieutenant Mira Jayde
1,733 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Operation Kakori
Location: Cargo Bay 2, Shuttlepod 14225
Timeline: After Fishing in the Dark Pt.2
[PREVIOUSLY]
Neil didn't get to channel his inner gunny very often and it was satisfying, though seeing more and more of his crew returning alive was better still.
[CONTINUED]
Daynah didn't bother to look up from the computer as the myriad of people swarmed around her. "Lieutenant Davi. That shuttle is not holding up. Three direct volleys from the station, and two plasma strikes from the Badlands themselves. Shields are failing and weapons are holding. Whoever is flying that thing is doing one hell of a job. Point is we may only have one or two more shots at this. It would be best to engage the transporter between the bursts. I have timed them out. Energize on my mark."
The ops chief tried for another group, but she couldn't get a lock. There were four more to beam back, and she wasn't going to lose any of them if she could help it. "I think I can tie in to the ship's sensors to boost our ability to get a lock." The console began to spark, sending Kat back under the console to do more rewiring. "I don't know why it's acting this way. I'll have to do a full diagnostic later."
She finally got it working and popped back into her seat. "Okay. Now the hard part." She glanced at Daynah. "I need all the power going to the transporters. The plasma radiation is building and I can't get a lock." Then, remembering that Biv was still listening, she added, "And anything you can send me, Biv."
All at once Daynah had an idea. With the docking clamps engaged, there was no need for the engines to be online. Her hands danced on the console. "Kat, I am going to have the docking clamps hold this shuttle airborne." There was a slight jostle to the shuttle as the clamps hydraulics fully engaged. "Transferring engine power to the transporters now. That should do it."
Kat finally got a lock...but it showed two Mira Jayna's. She double checked with the computer and yes, it was her. Twice. Then she noticed some differences that didn't make sense. "Colonel Tremble, I'm getting two Lieutenant Miras. I'm not sure which one is her, or if I have to lock on to both of them." She wasn't even sure if the computer would bring over one person or two. Or if it should. It could be a computer glitch, but if so, she had to figure it out before transport.
Daynah was not going to have Tremble make a decision that could kill his new wife. She was not sure if she could made the decision to kill someone, well everyone here was about to find out. "Lieutenant Davi energize both signals now. The plasma bursts are clear. It is now or never. That is an order."
Things were moving and he wasn't necessarily done with having his orders danced around during a crisis, but Neil also had work to do here and now. He and Lachlan would have words later. He let himself get distracted at the mention of Jayna and he was processing, but Rommie got there first and a picture of Jayna and Jade popped into his HUD for a moment, before fading.
Then Daynah stepped in and he let turned his attention back to waiting for whomever materialized next.
"Aye, ma'am." There wasn't time to let Daynah know she didn't have time to figure out if one or both were Jayna and she wasn't going to try to get one signal over the other. She'd have to be extra careful. After a moment, she had them, but she couldn't get a lock. "Can you enhance the transporter buffers?"
Biv was about to answer as he adjusted the matter gain settings and sent imprinted data to the POD's computer, when shouting began so he opted to just do the work and let the officer think success was due to their quick wits, as usual. Grunting to himself, he also tapped into the Pod's transporter system and began clearing the secondary buffers and spooling nodes by dumping the backups to the Valiant's systems.
"Wait, Lieutenant, there are two Miras, they're identical twins, we found the other one on the station," Mercy shouted from the back.
Well, that was nice to know, but at this point it didn't matter. Kat used the extra boost from Biv and tried again. This time, the two bodies began to materialize, then began to fade. "Come on, baby, you can do it," Kat whispered to the controls.
A moment later, two women who looked remarkably like each other materialized. "Willkomin. Bienvenue. Welcome," she said to the twins. "Please exit off the back as I have two more people to transport. Thanks!" She was a bit more polite this time as she wasn't sure why the other sister was on Breyet Nor.
"Thank you," Jayna said, hurrying off the back to find Neil and hug him.
Jayde was a little slower, but she didn't linger.
Kat then turned her attention to the controls...and couldn't get a lock. "Biv, one more boost. It's getting hazy out there."
Rolling his eyes for only his benefit, Biv said, "Aye aye, Lieutenant. Running background scrubbers and shift-matrix coding now to firm up the pick-up gain. That should sweep for anything still living on that shuttle."
Daynah's eyes widened. Her voice was tense but still somehow soft. "We don't have time for that. Going to have to shoot from the hip. Full volley of photon torpedoes, and quantum torpedoes are in bound for the shuttle. It will not survive the blast. You are going to have to bring them in now." Daynah had already dealt with one death on this ship, and she was not about to add two more to that list.
Kat had been improvising since the first three beamed over, but it wasn't worth arguing now. "I can't beam them over if I can't get a lock. Biv is pushing everything he can to the shuttle's transporters." She tried again and almost got them, but they faded. Now she put everything the shuttle had and everything she could pull from the Valiant into another attempt.
This time, she got a lock and engaged the transporters again. There was another shimmer that grew and then faded, but she wasn't going to let it go that easily and did a quick recalibration. This time, when they began to materialize, they didn't fade. But they didn't fully materialize, either.
A concussive force hit the ship. The shuttle? Kat boosted the transporters again, causing two circuits to fail. But the signal was still there and slowly, two shapes began to materialize.
Daynah turned to look at Kat. "The shuttle is gone. Do you have them?"
The two fully materialized seconds before the transporters failed.
Neil reached in, hesitating only to let the bodies fully materialize before yanking them clear of the passage. "They're clear," he said in a battlefield voice. "Commander, we're good to button things up." Eyeing Shy, he gave his marine a shake, setting Makeba down first. "You still with me Shy? Taking a nap, were you?"
Daynah tapped her comm badge. "Ral to bridge. We have everyone. Landing the shuttle now." With deft hand motions she set the shuttle back to the deck and closed the bay doors.
Andrew had inadvertently closed his eyes as the last of the station's fire had been coming right at them, despite his and Brown's best efforts. Peeking one eye open he saw the Colonel holding him by the collar before he fully realized what had happened. "Jeeze, sir. Am I dead...cause. Well. Then I guess I know where I ended up for leading a life of mischief and evil..."
Snorting, Neil dropped the marine mostly ungently to his feet and said, "Yeah. Everyone knows marines go to Hell to regroup. As you were, sergeant. Glad you made it out."
Glancing to Brown, he said, "You too Lieutenant. Good work on not dying. That takes a lot of effort when you hang around the likes of Marines."
Makeba looked around there was a brief moment that she did not know if she was alive or dead. She smiled, and even laughed. "Now that was fun. It used to be Lieutenant sir, hasn't been for some time. Makeba or Keebs will do."
Zuub told everyone, her antennae leaning backwards, "If you're not dying, get out of the way. This is a triage situation, not a social hour. Arrange for your play somewhere else."
Now that the crisis was over and everyone else was leaving the shuttle bay, Kat wanted to make sure the plasma was properly vented. In addition, the shuttle needed some work before it could be used again and now was a good time to get it done while she monitored the radiation levels.
Daynah saw Kat setting to work and joined her. "Great work Lieutenant. No one died and everyone made it home. That's all that counts. Let's get the shuttle back up and running.
"Thanks," Kat replied. "And thank you. Your help was invaluable." They'd been fortunate. Kat was already thinking over things she could do to work around a Romulan cloak, just in case they had to do something like this again. She began a diagnostic while she pulled out the tools she would need.
Zuub told anyone who cared, "I'm going to head back to sickbay and deal with Mister Merrick, as he seems worst for the wear. If anyone needs me, I will be there."
Kat waved a hand in Zuub's direction, but she doubted the Andorian noticed. Then she went back to her work.
"Thank you Doctor. Please advise of the Major's status. Daynah turned back toward the consoles and knelt down to begin work on the shuttle's systems. She whispered to Katya with a beaming smile. "You know something that was fun. Let's never do it again."
END
A joint SIM post by:
Commander Daynah Ral
Executive Officer/Science Officer
USS Valiant
Makeba Brown
HUMINT Agent
USS Pioneer
Sergeant Mercy Ryan
Marine Sniper
USS Pioneer.
Lieutenant Commander Zuub
Chief Medical Officer
USS Valiant
Lieutenant Katy Davi
Chief of Operations
USS Valiant
Chief Petty Officer Biv Th'shrolneq
Transporter Specialist
USS Valiant
Sergeant Andrew Shy
Tactical Systems Operator
USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer
USS Pioneer
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