Flight Of The Phoenix [Part 7]

Posted on Wed Nov 29th, 2023 @ 2:47am by Lieutenant Fubuki Kuchikukan 'Snowflake' & Ensign Rin Kagamine 'Twin 2' & Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini'
Edited on on Thu Nov 30th, 2023 @ 8:38pm

1,407 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Starship Graveyard
Location: Endeavour (NX-05)- Bridge, Deck A

Fubuki managed to wrestle the hatch open to Deck A. She climbed up to find herself standing in the access corridor which ran around the edge of the NX Class bridge. "Come on, it looks intact up here." She called back as she stepped aside. She pointed down the small semi-circular walk way which led to the bridge.

"My God, it's like stepping into a museum," Nozomi muttered as she climbed up into the access corridor, with Rin taking up the rear. "I mean, granted, a poorly-maintained museum, but still..."

Fubuki looked around the bridge. It was lit by the emergency lighting, and some of the consoles were actually online. However, one thing did catch her eye. The control panel on the captain's chair was lit up like a christmas tree.

"Look at this..." Fubuki said as she made her way over. She quickly examined the panel. "There's an active file here..."

Nozomi and Rin moved over to join Fubuki.

"Huh; would you look at that," Nozomi remarked, keen to observe a notification on the built-in screen that there was, indeed, an active file.

She glanced up at Fubuki. "What do you think the chances are that the data hasn't been corrupted after all this time?"

"I don't know, lets see." Fubuki said as she tapped the icon on the screen. The file was stored in the active memory and thankfully wasn't corrupted. Suddenly without warning, the speakers on the bridge came to life with a loud buzzing, right before a voice started talking.

"Captains Log. Captain Todd Wardel recording. This will be the last log I ever make for the Starship Endeavour. I hope that one day, someone from Earth will find this log and let our loved ones know what happened to us.

The Endeavour ventured into this nebula; our plan was to hide from the Romulan Warbirds that were chasing us. However, we were pulled down to this strange, desert-like planet. I gave the order for my crew to evacuate; I only hope that they made it out safely. I remained on board the Endeavour and managed to put her down on the surface.

I will shut down all the ship's systems and secure the vessel. I don't want the Romulans to get their hands on this vessel or our technology. I understand there is little-to-no chance of survival on this planet. However, I intend to explore as much as I can while I am here. After all, Starfleet is in the business of exploration.

If anyone does happen to find this ship, and come across this log, I can only wish you the best of luck. Please, find it in your heart to take the logs of my crew back to Earth. Do not let their sacrifice be in vain. I will not be here, but the name 'Endeavour' must continue.

Farewell, my friends."

The recording fizzled out as the speakers stopped buzzing.

Fubuki stood there in silence upon hearing the final words of the Endeavours Captain. "Don't worry Captain. We'll make sure your crew is never forgotton..." she said as she turned to Nozomi.

"And that's a promise we intend to keep," Nozomi nodded in agreement.

Fubuki pulled out her tricorder and placed it on the arm of the chair. "I'll download the logs to this tricorder," She said with a small smile. "That way, we have a copy we can keep on us. Should we have to leave this ship behind." she suggested. It was the least she could do, especially since Captain Wardle had been a true explorer right to the very end. She only hoped that they would be able to get this back to the Tokyo and make sure it was uploaded to the Federation's database, that way it could be archived and his name and actions could be remembered.

As the tricorder was downloading she made her way to the helm. She ran a hand over its smooth surface. "Manual piloting... look at these old controls." She said gesturing over Nozomi.

Nozomi moved over to join Fubuki.

"You know, there's something to be said about these primitive analog-digital controls," Nozomi remarked as she leaned over the gauge cluster. "Of course, nowadays we've got all these newfangled telemetry systems and bio-neural auto-buffers, but all of that probably detracts from having full control of a 280,000-ton starship in your hands..."

She glanced over Fubuki. "Do we know if there's any way to tell that we're getting feedback from the controls?"

Fubuki shook her head. "Not unless we power all this up." she replied. "But I would love to give this a test...." she said. If it wasn't for the current situation you could almost say that Fubuki was excited to play with such an old vessel.

"Well, so much for that idea..." Nozomi lamented.

Meanwhile Rin had moved around the bridge and had located the engineering console. "It seems as if the others are in the process of bringing the warp core back online," she reported as she took a seat and began to operate the controls. "These old controls are pretty clumsy, but I can see that power levels are starting to increase. I think this ship still has plenty of life in her yet" She smiled. The Engineering console was showing that most of the ships primary systems were somewhat functional. Some had of course taken damage or had deteriorated over the years on the surface. She couldn't help but be amazed at how sturdy these old ships were built to be.

"Fantastic," Nozomi remarked. "Now, presuming that structural integrity hasn't degraded to something akin to wet toilet paper... we may just have a chance of getting this thing back to the Tokyo..."

"Its not going to be easy..." Fubuki said as she sat down at the helm console. "I'd say it's going to take us a few days just to get this ship operational enough for us to even attempt to fly her. The impulse engines are showing as offline."

"I'm afraid we don't have a few days," Nozomi was quick to object. "No offense, but the rations we were able to recover will only cover four pilots in three days; and given that there are six of us, we're bound to go through those rations a lot faster."

Fubuki turned in her chair and looked at Nozomi. "Well, I guess we'll have to hurry up and get this old girl back up and running." She said. "However..." she looked directly at Nozomi. "Every ship needs a Captain. We need a designated leader..."

She placed a single hand on the helm. "I'm more suited to flying this old girl. What do you say Nozomi? Fancy taking the big chair?"

Nozomi blinked in surprise. "Me? I mean, guys, I'm flattered, but I don't think I'm necessarily cut out to be barking orders from the center chair and all that..."

Fubuki shook her head. "Bullshit!" she replied quickly. "Out of all of us, you've shown the most potential to command. You've kept us all together and got us all this far. Everyone thinks I'm just some little kid, they think Rin over there is too inexperienced..." she looked over at Rin. "No offense..."

"None taken," Rin replied with a smile.

"And as for the others, they're to hardheaded and busy throwing insults at each other. You're the only one who can do this," Fubuki told her. "Trust me."

Nozomi was evidently stunned by Fubuki's high praise, but after taking a good minute or two to mull it over, her look shifted to one of resolve.

"Alright," she conceded. "I can't exactly guarantee that this'll be easy, but if we're to make it out of here alive, we're going to have to run ourselves a tight ship- and that means we've gotta make every decision count. You guys with me?"

Both Fubuki and Rin nodded in unison. "Yeah!" They both exclaimed.

Nozomi nodded. "Right, then; so, first thing's first, I say we rendezvous with the others down on Deck D..."

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