“They’re coming round for another pass!” Lt Chatten hollered over the sounds of phaser fire bouncing off their hull.

Commander Neda cursed under his breath as he plotted an evasion course and wiped a smear of blood from a large gash on his forehead then looked towards the back of the shuttlecraft. “How is she doing?” He asked, bracing himself against his console as another blast glanced off their bow.

NE Buggins wiped the sweat from his brow as he tried to stabilise his patient. “Not good…” he muttered as he administered another shot of adrenaline to try and stop the young Ensign sprawled on the deck from going into cardiac arrest.

Neda turned back and checked their course. “Still too far out…” he mumbled, “…any response from Commander Greenway?” He asked hopefully. Chatten checked his console and shook his head.

Slamming his fist down on the console and trying to put the throbbing pain from his head out of mind, Neda quickly looked for another alternative. “Lt, do we have enough power for warp?” He asked hopefully as he frantically began programming in a new course. Chatten sighed as he looked at his console and shook his head. “Not unless we take weapons offline and put life support on minimal,” he replied.

Commander Neda glanced back to Ensign Hillard and nervously bit his lip as alerts started to chime on the panel after another hit. “Do it.” He ordered as he confirmed their course. “On my mark Lt,” he added as his finger hovered over the console. It was a risky move but he had to try something before they got pulverised.

Chatten gulped nervously in anticipation. “It’s going to be a rough ride…” he added. Neda said a silent prayer as he hit execute. “Now!” He barked as the craft began to turn and sped into warp. He could only hope that the enemy ship hadn’t registered their course change at the last second.

Moments later Neda opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief as he no longer heard weapons fire all around him. He was starting to feel dizzy but he knew they weren’t out of the woods yet, he had to get them to safety. Resisting the urge to vomit he tentatively asked, “everyone ok?”

Lt Chatten nodded as he scanned the area for enemy activity. “All good sir, no sign of the enemy and we’re right where we wanted to be, what about you sir?” he asked, noticing the growing blood stain on Neda’s tunic.

Neda nodded and immediately regretted it as pain coursed through his head. He winced and instinctively put a hand to his head. “Buggins? Still alive back there?” He asked, not daring to turn his head.

“Just about, but she doesn’t have long!” Buggins replied as he gave Hillard another shot of painkiller.

Neda was struggling to stay conscious but he was determined to see his mission through. Before he slipped into oblivion, he opened a comm channel.

=^= Shuttlecraft Volga to USS Saracen, this is Commander Neda from Javor IV, request permission to dock, we require urgent assistance and medical attention…=^= he requested, hoping they were in range. He gritted his teeth as another wave of pain shot through his temple. =^=…please, help us…=^= he added with slurred speech as he passed out.

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