The bridge was half functional, and the essential parts operated at capacity. It required it to function in the needs of the ship systems. Non-essential panels and consoles were still down, broken, or just destroyed. Lights were darker yellow as the yellow alert never went off, aside from the silent alert. K'Nala entered the bridge and looked around. It was a shock that she still had not been able to process it or had the time to do so. Being in this condition, the ship she served for so long, was heartbreaking.

“Lieutenant?” 

A voice came that broke K'Nala's daydreaming and looked in the direction of the captain “Sorrry Captain, just….the ship.” 

Sazra was leaning in her chair as she looked at her helmsman. She softly nodded and looked around the bridge herself. “I know, let's get her home.” Sazra was with her mind elsewhere; she would rather want to be with Silina, who forbade her to be at the sickbay too many times. Sazra rubbed her template, “Stubborn woman…” She mutters to herself.

“Captain? Did you say something?" K'Nala, who had sat down at her console, looked at Sazra and swore she had heard her say something. 

Shaking her head, “No, let's get this thing on the road…" Sazra tapped the communication for shipwide. “This is Captain Kobahl speaking. We are going to start up the engines, take the IKS Vornak, and go back home. We have overstayed in this underspace for way too long. Who knows, we might return to it in the future. But for now, say your goodbyes and battle stations, everyone. It is going to be a rough ride.” With that, she tapped the console.

“K'Nala and Taritt work with each other regarding output on engineering capacity, Bruno send all essential data of the astrometric to K'Nala. We are flying short range here, so you will be our eyes out there,” Sazra orders, looking at Asipa. “Lieutenant, keep short lines with the Vornak and alert them when we put our tractor beam on them. Don't want to speak them.” Looking at her right side, “Miki, all power goes to shielding. Pull energy from phasers if necessary, but keep some torpedoes in the gutter.” 

Everyone acknowledges with a synchronized “Aye.” 

But before K'Nala could get the engines back up, Tharek, who was in the corner focused on long-range scans, spoke up, “Halt! I got a ping.” He shared the information with Miki as he tried to get more locked information. “Interception in a minute” 

Sazra looked at the Chief Petty Officer and then at Miki. “Who are we dealing with?” 

Miki analyses the information on his console and runs it with the known registration of ships: “Scans indicate…..Cardassian. Signature…Keldon-class….Is this course correct?” He looked at Tharek, who was glued to his console.

“It is, they are passing us by….” Tharek looked at the data as the Keldon came closer. 

“Cardassians? What the hell are they doing here?” Sazra had not changed position in his chair. “Threat?” Her mind was racing with whatever possible scenario would pan out here. Why were they here? What happened while they were trapped in an underspace? 

He ran his hand over the console to get an estimation of what the ship was doing. “It is weird…but I would advise taking it as a threat…they seem to ignore all the rumble and debris out there and fly through it as if it is nothing….wait it is coming to a halt?” 

“Because it can't go further,” Dacio confirmed on his console. “I feared as much that this could happen,” He muttered, tapping on the cracked glass console. He noticed the questionable eyes of the bridge crew. “See the underspace as a pipeline; when it created this junction, it appeared in an area that was not natural to begin with, inside the planet.” He slides his finger up on the screen, and a junction and scans of the area come to the screen. “Underspace is in constant motion. I have noticed that certain debris is pushed away and moved to a different section.” 

Sazra looked at the scans. “So the Cardassians can't pass. Are we safe then?” 

“Depends on that definition….because the entrée we need to go out is at the other side…of this mess.” Dacio shrugged, “We basically need to unclog this drainage.”

Tapping on his console, Tharek tilted his head sideways. “I don't think we have to….the Cardassians are deploying something.” He made an initial low scan that would go under the masking of the interference, “Yeah….it is an explosion, and they are setting it up." 

Grumbling under her voice, “Asipa, alert the Klingons that this ride will become more hectic and put all efforts into shielding if they can.” Sazra took a deep breath. “K'Nala, we are in your safe hands. I believe in you.” 

Taking a deep breath and hearing her captain's encouraging words made her demeanor more solid and confident. She started the engines as the blue lights started to flicker and slowly turned on the left warp cell as the right one stayed off. The Mariner systems went up, “Moving forwarrrd to Vornak.” The ship started to move slowly forward as the cracking metal sounds were heard all across the ship.

“Ship is holding, shields at 37%, tractor beam powering up,” Drata confirmed as he tapped on his console. “Commander Valerio is pushing the engines as much as they can," He reported. “I need to get closer to the Vornak to get the lock on the ship.” 

Giving a soft nod but not breaking her focus on the interface, she said, “Working on it.” K'Nala's breathing slowed as she fell into a trance, trying to guide the Mariner through the debris and remnants of the planet. “Almost,” She muttered, seeing the Vornak on her sensors. The Cardassians didn't notice the movement of the Mariner through the debris on the other side and continued the deployment.

“Is this what they call ill-luck timing?” Miki said, looking at the sensor data of the Cardassians planting the explosion.

“Whatever it is, the walking distance just became a rocket ready to ignite,” Sazra replied, not breaking her eyes from the screen. Seeing her ship being moved through the debris, small bumps of debris hit the hull but were deflected by the shields.

Drata kept all the data in check: “Shields holding at 37%, no 38%, we're getting more power.” He saw the Klingon ship coming closer. Lieutenant Asipa, alert them. 

Raising his hand, Miki shook his head. “Wait.” He was looking at the console. “We time this correctly; the Cardassians will not notice us. The explosion goes off; we punch it to get out of here…while getting out, we lock on them.” 

Giving an approval nod, “Sounds good, K'Nala. Be ready for the detonation. Asipa informs the Klingons of our plan.” Sazra gave out the orders, but her mind was still racing about why these Cardassians were here. But her priority was to quickly get her crew and the Klingons out of this underspace." The bridge became quiet, looking as the Cardassian ship started to back away from the blockage.  

“Get ready,” Miki said as everyone tensed up and focused on their assigned duties. Then, a big explosion was visible as the Cardassians disappeared, racing away from the junction. Now!” A funnel started to form at the explosion's location, and debris started to pour through it. 

The Mariner boosted forward with all its power and made a sharp turn into the funnel. A blue beam reached out to the Vornak, which was being pulled by the Mariner out of its solid location. “Got the Vornak! Shields at 34%." Drata reported trying his best to keep a hold on the ship. 

“Hold on!” K'Nala yelled as she navigated the ship through the speeding-up debris surrounding the two ships. “I can't respond as quickly due to the weight!” 

Another hit, the bridge shook violently. “24%, K'Nala is right. The Vornak is too much for us!" Drata stated.

Sazra narrowed her eyes. “Shit..” She muttered, “Drata, inform all outer hull crew to go deeper into the ship's designated area! Shields all to the front!” Another shake, but Sazra held her seat. “Get Valerio to give us more power! He can complain afterward! We are not letting them GO!” 

The ship dances around the heavy debris with the Klingon ship on its back. The shields were diverted to the front as most of it hit there, enforcing the hull plating on the weaker parts. The Mariner moved through it with chaotic movement. “Exit point in view!” K'Nala yelled as she held onto the console while her hand went over the panel. “Come on” 

What felt like an eternity was not more than eight minutes of utter chaos; the two ships pushed through it. “Shields at 13%, 12%, 10%,” Drata yelled, trying to magically get more power from anywhere. “7%!” The Mariner was violently hit by debris as it pushed through the exit point of underspace. They originally came through with the guidance of Tharek and Dacio. 

As if space itself had spit them out after a bad meal, the Mariner and Vornak flew to their original location, coming slowly to a halt. “Status report!” Sazra said as the blue shimmer of the tractor beam disconnected from the Vornak. 

“2%, Captain, shields had 2%, engines are still operational, but they took a hit. Hull plating enforcement had helped in designated locations. No crew deaths were reported; some were injured,” Drata reported.

“We are getting a communication message from the Klingons. They are thankful for the sacrifice that we made during this trip and for not letting go in the heat of the moment. They shall remember this honor and will spread the word of our bravery. But they do warn us to start leaving the area, as the Klingon Empire has been contacted for support.” Asipa concluded her message by looking at the Captain while trying to catch her breath. 

Giving a firm nod, “K'Nala, get us out of here….best possible speed….Asipa started contacting Starfleet for support.” Sazra leaned, exhausted from this trip, back in her chair. The ship started moving away from the Klingons and toward the Federation borders, leaving behind a large shattered planet once a colony for Romulan refugees. Their mission was simple: deliver the supplies, calm down the colonists, fend off the Klingons diplomatically, and return. Sazra or anyone on the ship had not expected to be sucked into the aperture and live to tell the tale.