“Coming round to bearing 319, mark…” A deep thud resonated through the deck like a knell as a sizable piece of debris impacted on the leading edge of the port nacelle and ricocheted off into the debris field, the momentum swinging Helios’ fore-heavy form. “Correction, 252 mark 53.” Eyma’s right hand danced across the console with practised skill, drawing the circular prow of the ship upwards as her left hand found itself rooted to the engine controls, tightening the ship’s arc with the finessing of the impulse engines. 

“Maybe try not to hit every piece of debris.” Oyvo chided from his position at the ops console next to her. “Shields holding, no internal damage!”

“Sorry, that near-miss earlier gave it an unexpected spin.” the young Orion apologised with a grin, causing Oyvo to shake her head. Of course, the daredevil woman is enjoying it. 

“Watch out for that nacelle at 11 and 11.” David called from the flight ops table at the rear of the bridge, churning his limited sensor through the computer to generate a holographic replica of the field that rolled and tilted with Eyma’s every ministration, at its centre, Helios‘ form remained fixed as an anchor. 

“I see it, rolling to port.”

“Bahir, Alpha target opening to port, high.” K’Sal announced as a sleek red shape slid behind a large chunk of debris in the hologram, her attention was split between three lithe red figures that swam through the debris field, fading in and out as they slipped from cover to cover. But K’Sal was used to managing dozens of independent craft in 3 dimensions, she was in her element and her barely constrained smile rivalled that of the young helmsman. “I’m having Heliades sheepdog them into position.” 2 groups of small blue arrows shot across the holographic display reflecting the breakneck speeds the fighter squadron was undertaking to marshall the nimble raiders. 

“I see them. Standing by for a phaser volley.” the tall Saurian acknowledged from the tactical position on the port side, his tone as cool as an Andorian summer. The fifth-generation Starfleet officer sat calmly at his console, clods of mud still covering his trousers where he had rushed from the transporter room, his zen-like expression a stark counterpoint to the giddy expression still spanning some of his crewmate’s faces. Well known to be icy calm under pressure, he looked as if he might be composing a particularly dull service rota rather than strategising a high-stakes spacefight. 

“All your’s Bahir.” Bib confirmed from his standing position at the centre of the bridge. 

Silence swept onto the bridge as everyone present held their breath, lest a rogue inhalation should disturb the tactical officer’s concentration and they miss the opportunity to strike a hit against the infuriating Kazon wasps. Agonising seconds past, the passage of time marked only by the tinny clanking of debris against the ship’s large hull, Bahir’s long scaled finger hovering patiently above a large button marked ‘FIRE’. 

One. Clank. Not yet, the engine block is masked by a broken bulkhead. 

Two. Clank. Not yet, only one array is aligned. 

Three. Clank. Not yet, the target is rolling on its Z axis, attempting to bring its phasers to bear on the Heliades. A few more degrees and it will reveal its belly. 

Four. Clank. Helios’ frame groaned loudly as Eyma continued to pull its bow upwards like a rearing horse, the bones of the ship begging for Bahir to take the strike. 

Five. Clank. The target’s belly is exposed, its attention elsewhere, all dorsal arrays within arc. Now 

“Firing.” Bahir calmly announced as his finger made contact with the console’s surface, sending terawatts of energy racing across the long arcing dorsal phaser arrays before it lept out into the chilly void, propelling itself from the grey hulled ship before striking at the exposed underside of the Kazon raider. A blossom of orange and yellow fire erupted from the tan hull, masking the violent explosions that raced through the ship’s internal organs. Moments later grey flashes sped past the brown arrow ship as its engines suddenly gave up, the Heliades flight screaming past. 

“Direct hit, target Alpha is slowing and losing power.” Oyvo announced to the room, a communal gulping breath punctuating her sentence. 

“Yes!” Bib punched the air, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Bahir who seemed no more pleased with himself than if he had opened a particularly frustrating jar of Vulcan pickles. “You’re never leaving that console again Bahir.” The Saurian grumbled inaudibly behind his thin lips, acutely aware that he still was not taking his technically rightful position at the XO’s seat.  Bib turned to sit as the tension began to ease, finding only the ominous centre chair nearby he opted to continue standing. “Sit rep?”

“Target’s Alpha and Charlie disabled, Bravo appears to be retreating into the field.” Oyvo confirmed. 

“Should Heliades pursue?” K’Sal’s hand hovered over the holograms, ready to redeploy the ship’s combat squadron. Her other hand reached to her ear, where an earpiece relayed dedicated comms. “Astris is requesting authorization to engage.”

Bib shook his head tightly, “Pull them back to a protective cordon. We can’t risk losing them in the field.” K’sal acknowledged with a short nod before beginning to deliver instructions in a whisper. “Eyma distance to the portal?”

“Holding position 27.8 kilometres from the event horizon.” the young Orion conn officer flexed her wrists, freeing them from the tension of combat. “Still quiet.”

Turning to the rear of the bridge, where David continued to process data from their beaten and bruised sensor arrays, Bib raised his eyebrows expectantly. “Any luck on getting that portal open?”

“We were interrupted, I need to calibrate the correct frequency for Nakashri to tune the subspace field. The weapons fire is slightly distracting.” David retorted, running his hand through the scraggly mess that was his hair. 

“We might not have very long David.” 

“I’m aware Bib… Captain.” David caught his tongue a second too late, he could practically feel Bahir’s icy stare from across the room. “I’m running the calculations now but the longer we can stay stationary taking sensor readings with the forward array the better.”

“How long?” Bib stressed, leaning across the table, his head appearing to float like a particularly large piece of debris in the holographic field. “Every moment we wait is another moment the tetryon radiation is breaking down the aperture.” Not only did it seem the Kazon were determined to bar their exit, but the fabric of the universe seemed intent on closing the door, they still had no idea of the exotic radiation’s origin but it was enough to know the portal wouldn’t stay accessible long. 

“I’m aware Captain.” Won’t catch me out twice David thought. “But it’ll be a lot quicker if I can keep the forward sensor clusters fixed on the event horizon.”

“Is our yellow brick road at least still there?” The invisible plasma flow that had been drawn from the Badlands along with Helios would indicate the route home through the Underspace network, hopefully. It was a long shot but better than a 6-month journey to the edge of the system under impulse and then an unthinkably long journey back to the edge of the Federation. Bib suddenly felt his collar tighten, this was the only reasonable choice, every other path else was unthinkable. 

“That’s Oz Captain, I think it’s ruby slippers you’re after,” Eyma swung her chair round slowly to face the Andorian commander who looked back, a look of confusion spreading across his face. “Yellow brick road goes to Oz and the wizard. We need to click three times to go back to Kansas.” She clicked her boots together indicatively. “You know it’s not a bad metaphor, Kansas, tornado, yellow brick road…”

“Three new contacts emerging from the field alongside Bravo, designations Delta, Echo & Foxtrot. 60 seconds to weapons range.” Oyvo announced from the operations console. 

“…And here are the flying monkeys.” 

Quiet simmered on the bridge as 4 red arrows emerged from the gloom onto the holographic display, needle-like points driving through the void towards the round body of Helios, far too rotund and heavy to dodge the hypodermic tips of the raiders for long.

“Bahir?” Bib turned to the Saurian at his customary role at tactical. 

“Our options are two Captain. We remain here, ‘hunker down’ as the humans say and attempt to outlast the Kazon whilst we take the appropriate readings.” Bahir’s brows furrowed as he calculated a thousand probabilities. “The Raiders are not particularly powerful but we would be at a decided disadvantage. We will likely take damage and casualties but we have a much better chance of Mr. Mitchell discovering the appropriate field frequency.” 

Bib shuddered visibly at the thought of damage and casualties he would be responsible for, however indirectly. Bahir continued undeterred. 

“Alternatively we can undertake direct action and engage the raiders with the full capabilities of Helios. We have a good chance of fighting off all 4 with minimal losses but we will struggle to collect the data. However…” Bahir threw a glance to David at the rear of the bridge who returned his silent question with a quick shake of the head. “…we will likely lose access to the portal.”

“10 seconds till weapon’s range.” Oyvo announced, a slight quiver in her voice but Bib trusted her, she would not falter.

“I would like to return to Kansas, the choice however is your’s… Captain.” Bahir finished, prompting a response. Bib was suddenly struck by the relatively young officer, perhaps he did him a disservice by not inviting him to the XO seat. Perhaps Doctor Ashra had been right when they had first arrived, he did them all a disservice by not acting like the Captain. 

“Kansas it is Bahir.” Bib offered the man a quiet nod of acknowledgement. “K’Sal, have Heliades form a tight perimeter, short intercept only, no chasing. Oyvo give me as much power to shields as you can, all the juice, drain the batteries. David you’ve got your stationary position, make it worthwhile. Bahir, if you’d like to join me.” he motioned to the seat beside the central chair. 

“I believe I have instructions to remain at my station Sir.” Bahir allowed a playful smile to hang at the corner of the lips. 

As the deck shook from the first impact and then a second Bib stepped onto the raised platform that elevated the central command chairs of the bridge. Turning and setting himself down in the central chair he squeezed the armrest for comfort as he had seen Captain Tanek do a hundred times before. “Very well then Mr. Bahir. Fire at will.”