Star Trek: Eleventh Fleet

Ep3: Chapter 4: Growing Fear

Phil Bigos stood before a room filled with people wearing the tan jumpsuit of the standard non-com engineering corps. The trepidation in their eyes permeated the room. Normally, he had a hard time keeping them quiet long enough to give the morning briefing and hand out the daily orders. Now they stood in dense silence.

"I'm sure you now know of the fact that we are facing a terrible threat. The general population has been kept in the dark for a while, but soon a Borg ship may arrive."

"Why is a Borg Cube coming to this system?" A man asked.

A woman piped up, "Why would they come this way? This isn't a heavily populated system."

Phil held up his hands. "This isn't a cube, it is a sphere. Why it is coming, I do not know, and it really doesn't matter. The threat is real. Therefore, Mr. Scott has been pushing you to get as many ships combat-ready as possible. You have all performed exceedingly well, and I am proud of you. After this, I will recommend commendations for all of you for the effort you have shown above and beyond expectations."

"Little good that will do if we're all assimilated." A boy called out.

Phil gave the loudmouth a glare, daring him to keep talking. After the boy tightly shut his mouth, Phil continued, "For the time being, we are stopping work on Project Phoenix. They have evacuated all civilians to the planet's surface. The order to evacuate includes all of you. However, I know some of you don't want to hide while this invasion takes place. I will stay here on the station, leading damage control teams and making sure this place stays in one piece. If any of you want to stay behind, report to deck seven for assignment. If you want to evac, you may do so and I will not count it against you in the least. But you must make your decision within the hour."

"I want to stay." A woman stood up.

"Me too." A Bolian woman stood up on the other side of the room.

Before this got out of control, Phil bellowed, "Wait, hold it!" He calmly then explained, "Think for a moment and then make your choice. I don't want anyone here to feel pressured because their neighbor is volunteering. Take a moment to consider what you want to do. If you want to stay, report to deck seven. If you want to evac, head to the shuttle docking services on deck twenty-five. For now, you're dismissed."

To prevent people coming to him so he could make the choice for them, he picked up his padd and left the room. Directly outside the door stood Mr. Scott.

"Oh, hello, sir."

"Fine job, lad. You have the quality of a good leader."

"You heard me?"

Scotty walked with him toward the meeting area for station engineering. "Aye, I thought about com'n in an answering questions if they had any. But you had it all under control."

"It could've got out of hand in there. This is a scary situation." Phil and Scotty turned a corner. "So, you going to be leading the damage control teams?"

"No, that'll be you, lad."

"Me? But you're the chief engineer at this station."

Scotty laughed, "I'm just an old dog having fun tinkering around with old ships. The real chief engineer round here is Captain Henderson. He may be our captain, but he's got the stuff of a talented engineer. I've seen him work'n, and he knows what he's doing."

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why I'm in charge?"

"I will be in the operations center, help'n command this base during the invasion."

"You... will be in charge. What about..."

Scotty stopped and counted off on his fingers, "Admiral Henderson will be on her ship, Commander Nurnberg will be commanding a ship, Commander Pestridge will be commanding a ship, an Captain Henderson will be working with the team gett'n that virus fixed so we have a fight'n chance against them. That leaves few to be in command of this base. I volunteered."