Star Trek Discovery: Penitent's Walk

VIII: Danger is Our Business

"Lieutenant," the foxy Commander's voice crackled like a riding crop, "I gave you an order. You're not risking your life."

Detmer opened her mouth to say something—she didn't know what, she hadn't really thought past the moment she decided to say something bold and certain to dispel the gloom of their situation—but Owosekun saved her.

"Respectfully, Commander, for all the reasons you can't just watch this calamity unfold from the safety of an escape pod, neither can we."

"We're Starfleet," Nilsson said. "We don't just walk away when the odds are against us."

"We're not going," EunLim said.

Lucero's incredulous gaze swept over the five of them. "All of you agree on this?"

It occurred to Detmer that maybe she should have taken a vote before she opened her mouth. Oh well...

"I think we're all in agreement," Owosekun said gently as she looked at each of her crewmates, seeking any sign of uncertainty, fear, reluctance, Detmer knew, just as she knew she'd find none.

Lucero opened her mouth to say something but couldn't seem to find the words. Her eyes glittered, and Detmer had the sudden urge to hug her and tell her that she wasn't alone in this, and that they'd all stand beside her, no matter what. And then make tender love to her to teach her to trust again.

"All right," Lucero said.

"Huh?" Detmer had just begun mentally unzippering Lucero's uniform and realized she might have missed something important.

Lucero took a deep breath and clapped her hands together, "Everyone take a station." There was some steel in her voice now as she found her place as a commander, and she ran through the various control stations: Power Allotment, Shields and Protective Systems, Environmental Systems, Guidance and Telemetry, and Sensors and Comms. "Familiarize yourself with the scenario. I need options. We've got about twenty minutes before terminal velocity and centrifugal force will make it impossible to do anything.

The Discovery crewmembers all descended upon the Operations Center's control systems and read their readouts. Since there was no helm, Detmer squeezed in next to Owosekun at Guidance and Telemetry.

"Here," she said, pointing to the station's projected glide path on her screen. "That's not good."

Detmer took a moment then made out what she took to be the graphic representation of Lundheaton City. Then she looked at the red curtain that bisected it. "So, that's the projected impact?"

"Yep," Owosekun said. "Even at the extreme outside..."

"That's like, twenty kilometers outside the city limits, so we're still facing a casualty count..."

"That's astronomical," Owosekun nodded sadly.

"We gotta move that impact site. At least a couple of klicks. Out into the bay would be best."

"We can reroute emergency power to thrusters," EunLim said excitedly. "There are auxiliary power nodes that can be reprogrammed—"

"It won't matter," Lucero shook her head grimly. "The thrusters are externally-mounted. When those ionic bursts hit us, they were burnt out. You can reroute power, but it'll be reaching a burnt pile of debris."

EunLee hung her head. "We have so much power..."

"Maybe too much," Nilsson said. "The reactors are showing temperature spikes. There must a venting issue."

"If we lose the reactor, we lose control of the shields and we're back to the extinction-level impact," Lucero said tightly.

"Commander," Owosekun said, "is there any assistance at all the Zerothians can give us?"