“Captain,” someone called from across the bridge. It was Lieutenant Grigoryeva, the operations officer. “I’m detecting a spike in one of the EPS conduits in engineering. Looks like it’s building to an overload.”
“Can you cut power?”
“Not from here.”
Mello went to her command chair. “Bridge to engineering.”
“Bhatnagar here, Captain. We’re aware of the problem. I’m trying to reduce—Neil, help me get this out of—”
The sound of an explosion filled the bridge.
“Engineering, what happened? Bhatnagar, this is the captain. Report!” Mello glanced at Montenegro, who didn’t hesitate. He was on his way to the turbolift even as Mello was alerting sickbay. Kira found herself rushing to follow the first officer into the turbolift.
“Engineering,” Montenegro said, then looked questioningly at Kira.
“Thought I might be able to help,” Kira said.
The first officer nodded, but was obviously preoccupied with whatever had gone wrong in engineering, muttering, “I told her we were taxing our power systems.”
Kira frowned. “Who? The engineer?”
Montenengro shook his head. “The captain.”
Kira wondered what to make of that. Most first officers knew better than to publicly voice disagreements they might have with their C.O.s. Montenegro looks pretty young, though,Kira noted. He can’t have had this post too long. Maybe it’s just inexperience.
They traveled the rest of the way to engineering in silence. Two medics were already running down the corridors when they stepped out of the turbolift: one of them was Dr. Mei Ling Xiang, Gryphon’s chief medical officer. Kira had met her during the initial briefing after she’d beamed aboard from DS9.
The doors to engineering split open as they approached. Coughing crewmen poured out on a cloud of smoke, two of them supporting a man with some of the worst plasma burns Kira had ever seen. The crewman set the wounded engineer down on the deck and Xiang immediately went to work. “Conduit burst right next to him,” one of the crewmen panted. “We were able to get to Hallerman easily, but the chief is still in there. She’s pinned beneath a bulkhead. A couple of the techs were working to free her, but the room filled up so fast, the vents couldn’t keep up.”
“Status of the warp core?” Montenegro asked.
The crewman shook his head. “I’m not sure, sir.”
Montenegro cursed and looked at Kira. “Ready?”
“Let’s go,” Kira said at once. Together they ran into engineering, unable to see more than two meters in front of them. It was hot, and the Klaxon was blaring. Montenegro felt for a locker near the door and retrieved two filter masks. He handed one to Kira, who finally allowed herself to breathe as she fit the device over her nose and mouth.
“I need to check the warp core!” Montenegro shouted over the alarm, his voice muffled through the mask. He pointed. “Bhatnagar is probably in that direction. Can you help them get her out?”
Kira nodded and started moving. Two steps later Montenegro was already invisible through the smoke, and her skin was slick with sweat. Ventilation system must have been affected by the explosion. This room should be clear by now.
Kira began to see shadows in the smoke. Two crewman in breathing masks were straining to lift a slab of debris off a woman who was pinned almost to her neck. As Kira drew close, she recognized the woman as another attendee of Mello’s staff meeting: Lieutenant Commander Savitri Bhatnagar, chief engineer. Her burns didn’t look as bad as Hallerman’s.
One of the crewman noticed her. “She’s out cold. I think she may have some broken bones,” he said. “When we lift, you pull her clear.”
Kira nodded and positoned herself behind Bhatnagar’s head. The woman was coughing spasmodically. Kira took off her mask and put it over the engineer’s face. Then she slipped her hands under Bhatnagar’s shoulders and managed to get a grip under her armpits. “Ready!” Kira shouted over the Klaxon.
“On three,” the crewman said. “One…two… three!”The crewman and his partner heaved. The slab lifted and Kira slid the engineer out. The crewmen dropped the slab with a crash, and one of them helped Kira lift Bhatnagar and carry her out of engineering.
As they set Bhatnagar down for the doctor to work on, Kira saw that the earlier patient, Hallerman, his rescuers, and the other medic were already gone, probably on their way to sickbay. Kira sat back and coughed, wiping her forehead with her sleeve. “Will she be all right?” she rasped.
Xiang didn’t look up as she tended to her patient. “A few burns…a broken ankle…Most of the damage is to her lungs, but it’s nothing I can’t fix. Whoever put the mask on her saved her life. A few more seconds exposed to that stuff and her lungs would have been seared beyond repair.” She looked at Kira, who was still coughing. “You should report to sickbay, Colonel.”
“In a minute,” Kira said, trying to breathe normally. “How’s Hallerman?”
Xiang shot her a quick smile. “He’ll make it, too.”
Kira nodded and grimaced. Her chest felt as if it were on fire. She rose to her feet and tapped her combadge. “Kira to bridge.”
“Mello here. Go ahead, Colonel.”
“There were two injuries in the blast, Captain. Both are expected to make a full recovery.”
“Good,” Mello said. “What about the warp core?”
“Montenegro is checking on that now,” Kira panted. Where the hell was he?“Stand by, Captain.”
Just as she was about to reenter the engine room, Gryphon’s first officer staggered out, soaked with sweat and panting as he took off his breathing mask. Kira grabbed his shoulder to steady him as his hand reached for his combadge. “Montenegro to bridge. The warp core is stable. I’ve rerouted the plasma flow from the damaged conduit, but we still need a crew to work on venting the engineering section. All things considered, though, it could have been much worse.”
“Good work, Commander. I was worried we might have to drop out of warp.”
For a second Montenegro’s eyes darted to Kira.
“Lieutenant Grigoryeva is coordinating the repair crews. Report to the bridge when you get cleaned up.”
“Yes, sir. Montenegro out.”
Two corpsman arrived with an antigrav gurney for Bhatnagar. While they tended to the patient, Xiang stepped up to Montenegro and Kira and scanned them with her medical tricorder. She scowled. “Both of you, get to sickbay now, before I call the captain and get her to issue the order. Thirty seconds of your time is all you’ll need to give up.”
Montenegro nodded wearily. “All right, Mei. We’ll be there in a few minutes, I promise.”
Xiang sighed and followed the gurney down the corridor, shaking her head.
Montenegro looked at Kira and rolled his eyes. “Doctors. Thanks for pitching in, by the way.”
Kira tried to tell him she was glad she could help, but wound up making a noise that sounded more like she was clearing her throat.
Montenegro frowned. “Are you all right?”
Kira nodded and managed to say in a hoarse whisper, “Chest hurts. I think I’m inclined to follow the doctor’s orders.”
“Ouch,” Montenegro said. “Yeah, you sound awful. Come on. I’ll take you to sickbay.”
True to Dr. Xiang’s word, Kira’s treatment took only half a minute to complete. When it was done, the pain in her chest was gone, and she was speaking and breathing normally again. Montenegro, on the other hand, insisted that he felt fine, that he’d kept his mask on the entire time he was in the engine room, and no amount of cajoling by the nurse would convince him to sit down and relax. Kira had seen this sort of behavior before—had been guilty of it herself, in fact: officers who thought it was important for every member of the crew to visit the doctor except themselves. In this particular case, though, Montenegro seemed preoccupied, and Kira got the distinct impression he had something to say to her, because he’d made a point of waiting during her treatment.