[snip]

“Have we been able to make any contact with them by short range comms yet?” Glen asked NE Coals and Lt. Malone.

”..I got a channel open sir, I think I’m getting a response but its muddled, one moment I’m trying to boost the gain..” Coals said.

Max then responded to the captain’s request, “Captain, there are some items here we need to look at. First, for another explosion of the deuterium canister going off is about 50/50 and we have no way to know which will happen if one of those explodes. Second, I’m afraid if we try and tractor beam the smaller ship out, it might get ripped apart, being as small as it is. Even if we get inside the 200 meter range, I do not believe the tractor beam is the best way to handle that. Transporting might be the best option, but we need to be closer than 200 meters to even make it worth wild. Every 10-20 meters closer we get, the tractor beam lock goes up 5-10% and a transporter lock goes up 2-5%. I am not sure how you want to proceed but I’m afraid more damage might be done if we pull the ship out as its so small and stuck in the swirl. ” Max knew it was important to present all the options to the captain and provide an opinion but ultimately it was the captain who would decide how to proceed.

“Thanks, Lieutenant,” Glen told Max. “So, if we went down the transporter route, would sending in a probe work? What about two or three probes, each carrying some kind of transport pattern enhancers that could boost the signal of the transporter in a polarized ionization field where a signal is known to be difficult to maintain? Do you think that you could jury rig up something like that for us? If we positioned the probes at three points of a plane passing through the Risan vessel would that boost the signal sufficiently?”

“If that is too complicated, then there might be a second option,” Glen added. “I have a some very old stock of ETS emergency transporter suits. They were originally a garment worn by pilots in training at the Academy. They served as both a homing device and transporter pattern enhancer to retrieve pilots who took a wrong turn. These bulky, mesh-lined jumpsuits allow for the emergency beam-out of a person from an endangered spaceship vehicle. I don’t know how many there are. They are in the Cargo Bay in a Giffla-37XZ cargo container, along with the rest of the belonging that I brought aboard the Merrimack but have never unpacked. If we can beam them aboard the ship, we can certainly beam them back again… unless the crew are too injured to put them on by themselves… then we’d need a volunteer to beam over with them…”

Based on the gravitic output of the whirlpool present the probes likely would be torn up on their way in. Their small size and lack of heavier structure was the problem. A shuttle was equally risky and likely out of the question. The Risan ship had barely survived and it was only a bit bigger then a Federation shuttle or runabout. The best option likely was to take the Merrimack in directly, the much larger and sturdy ship also better prepared for the troubles then the Trudograd would be likely tossed about a bit but no doubt survive. Getting in would be pretty easy if they went with the current, getting out would be trickier but doable depending on they proceeded.

Glen weighed up his options. None of them were very good, but as usual, the past came back to haunt him once again. He had lost too many lives under his command during their Ancients and Harvester missions to order the certain deaths of any more, and this weighed the most heavily on his mind right now. Does this make me a weak commander? thought Glen. Some might say that his preference to save lives made him a better commander. Whatever path he chose now, it didn’t seem worth risking anyone’s life if the Risan crew had already expired. To know if anyone still survives, I need a miracle from NE Coals, thought Glen.

”..Ah ha! Got someone Captain!” NE Coals said breaking the exchange up. Putting it up on audio now.

=/\= H…Hello? Merr–static. You there? My name is static –iel Cornwellis. My ship is stuck in static –well, some kind of gravitational anomaly near our colony system. Seems like I’m in a ne–static–ula now though. Long range comms are destroyed, my life support is almost gone, kind of hard to static –eathe. My co-pilot is dead and I am half stuck under a fallen console in the cockpit here. =/\= There was a pause as the man likely in pain and out of breath was struggling to keep calm to not further waste his little bit of air.

Then the puzzle of this catastrophe was finally explained. The Risan sub-light ship had been taken from the colony within its own system by the gravitational anomaly, most probably from the explosion of a deuterium canister, and then deposited at the other end, light-years away inside the nebula. Only one survivor was now remaining, his estimated time left was critically low. Pinned down, so unable to operate a pattern enhancer himself, or to put on one of the Emergency Transport Suits. And there were several more deuterium canisters aboard. An entire starship already lost in an attempted rescue. Can I risk another? thought Glen.

Glen had crossed the Bridge and was now at NE Coals’ communication console. “Can I speak to him?” Glen asked NE Coals.

=/\= This is the USS Merrimack. Hello Cornwellis. Captain Glen speaking. You’ve done well to make it this far. We are inside the nebula and can see your ship. We are pulling out every stop in our attempts to rescue you. Can you confirm that you are the only living person aboard? =/\=

• Glen, CO