Adelphous Station, Part IV: Sacrifice and Escape
Posted on Sat Jul 19th, 2025 @ 2:10pm by Lieutenant Jaina Zalla & Commander Karl Rogers & Lieutenant JG Alicia Santos & Ensign Matt Connor & Ensign Eric Banner
1,264 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission: Adelphous Station
Karl shouted for everyone to scatter, raising his phaser and opening fire. The beam struck the creature’s shoulder, searing black flesh, but it barely flinched. Its long tail lashed out, striking the bulkhead beside him with enough force to dent the metal. Karl moved without hesitation.
“Get back to the shuttle!” he shouted at the away team as he moved between the creature and the team. “Now!”
The creature turned toward him with an unnatural hiss, its jaws splitting open. Phaser fire from Zalla and Connor flashed from the sides, but it was too fast. The creature surged forward and Karl met it head on, trying to shove it back with a continuous phaser blast at near point blank range but the thing kept coming, slamming into the commander. The force knocked both of them into the bulkhead. Karl shouted in pain as claws raked across his side but he grabbed the creature and held on while triggering a power overload in his hand phaser and turning it into an explosive. The explosion blew outward in a blinding flash, enveloping the creature and Rogers. When the smoke cleared, the alien had retreated back into the vent system, screeching in rage. What remained of Commander Karl Rogers lay slumped against the wall, his uniform scorched, his body still.
Alicia reached the commander first, dropping to her knees and scanning him with her tricorder in vain hope to find any signs of life. Her tricorder readings confirmed what she already feared and she bowed her head. “He’s gone,” she whispered.
Eric fell back against one of the bulkheads, trying hard not to throw up inside his EVA suit helmet. He was having a hard time but he managed to keep the contents of his stomach down.
Jaina stood frozen for a second, breathing hard, phaser trembling slightly in her hand. Then she squared her shoulders. “Everyone back to the shuttle. Now,” she said.
“Lieutenant,” Connor started, still scanning the area. "What about the commander's body?"
“We can't afford to be slowed down,” Jaina replied, her eyes fixed on Rogers’ body. It made her sick to her stomach to give the order, but she knew that it was the right call. “We'll have to leave him. We’ve lost two people and we’re not losing anyone else.” She took one last look at the commander's body before she reached down and squeezed Alicia's shoulder.
Alicia bowed her head for a brief moment before she reached out and took the scorched commbadge from Roger's uniform. Tucking it away in a pocket, she stood and followed the others.
Jaina set a hard pace. The corridor that led to the docking ring, and the shuttle, was over two hundred meters long and she was determined to use every precious second Commander Rogers' had given them to escape. She could hear her own ragged breathing as well as the others, but they were keeping up. Reaching the docking ring, she paused only long enough to locate the airlock where the shuttle was docked before she took off again.
Reaching the airlock where the shuttle was docked, Jaina slid to a stop and checked the interior to make sure the creature wasn't waiting inside before she turned towards the others. "Inside!" she barked. "Connor, you help me cover the airlock."
Alicia gulped for air as she hurried into the shuttle. Not bothering to remove her EVA suit, she entered her access codes to bypass the lockout. The shuttle systems were still online, so it took only mere seconds to bring the shuttle fully online. "Shuttle's up," she reported. "Give me twenty seconds and we're good to go!"
Eric struggled to keep his breakfast down in between breathes for air, but somehow he was managing to do it. He finally struggled through the airlock and into the shuttle, falling to his knees and fighting to get his EVA suit helmet off.
Then came the hiss. It echoed down from the vent above just as the creature dropped with a sickening wet thud and landed just meters away.
“Open fire!” Jaina shouted.
Phasers lit up the corridor, the heavy charged beams slamming into the creature’s hide. What seemed to be acidic blood splashed across the floor, sizzling as it ate into the deck plating. The creature shrieked and charged, its long tail whipping forward.
Matt took a knee and raised his rifle, lining up a shot and hitting the creature square in the chest with a long continuous beam at maximum power. It was risky he knew, because a continuous beam would eventually either drain the rifle's power or cause it to overload and explode. At the moment, he just wanted the damned thing to back off so they could escape.
Jaina aimed her phaser and fired, the beam from her weapon hitting the alien in the same spot as Connor. The combined blow finally seemed to stagger the creature, and it retreated back down the docking ring corridor. "Fall back!" Jaina shouted as she started back stepping into the shuttle.
Matt didn't need to be told twice. He spun about, moving up into the shuttle before he spun back and raised his rifle, covering the chief as she retreated as well.
Jaina made it inside the shuttle and slapped the controls, raising the boarding ramp and sealing the shuttle. She could heard everyone gasping for breath, but she knew they weren't entirely safe yet. "Can we launch?" she asked as she fell onto one of the empty seats.
"Releasing docking clamps now," Alicia reported as her hands worked the shuttle controls. With a thud and a slight jolt, the shuttle broke away from the Adelphous Science Station. "We're clear," she said as she directed the shuttle towards the Eclipse. When she had a moment, she activated the autopilot and broke the seal on her EVA suit helmet.
Eric finally managed to get his EVA helmet off, and as soon as the cool air from the shuttle hit him he promptly threw up into his helmet. In between rounds of nausea, he started crying.
Matt had secured his rifle and started removing his EVA suit. When Banner started throwing up and crying, he knelt beside the younger officer and placed his hand on his shoulder. Not knowing what to say, Matt just sat there.
Jaina’s jaw tightened as she removed her helmet and let it fall to the deck of the shuttle. She had no words to comfort Banner, but she nodded approvingly towards Connor for being there for the operations officer. Knowing that she needed to report what had happened, she stood and moved to the front of the shuttle, sitting down beside Lieutenant Santos. "How long until we return to the Eclipse?" she asked.
"We'll arrive in nine minutes," Alicia answered quietly before she took Commander Rogers' commbadge out of her pocket. Without another word, she handed it over to Zalla.
Jaina accepted the commbadge quietly. For a long moment, she stared at the blast scorched device, not sure of how she was going to report what had happened. Finally, she looked up and reached out to touch the controls.
"Eclipse, this is Lieutenant Zalla. We are returning to the ship on board the shuttle. Two personnel are confirmed KIA. Please have medical on standby upon our return," she said, her voice devoid of any emotion and strange even to her own ears.
"Confirmed, away team," the response from the ship seemed strained. Jaina simply leaned back in her seat and waited for the shuttle to dock.
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