For one second nobody on the bridge of the USS Horizon moved. The everything moved at one.

Captain Tahlari Vahl turned towards her first officer, Lt Cdr Rupert Cavendish, after all their efforts she wasn’t willing to lose the USS Johnston now.

Lt B’lai Tyler’s hands were already moving quickly across her operations console. “Containment is falling through eighty four percent.”

Vahl looked towards the viewscreen, the damaged USS Johnston still hung in the darkness behind them, scarred and dark in places. An insert on the screen showed the now damaged Klingon cruiser listing to port but slowly turning.

Lt Kaelen Rix spoke from his tactical position. “Hostile vessel is attempting to turn away.”

“Can we stop them?” Vahl asked.

“yes,” he replied waiting for the command.

Vahl looked back toward the Johnston. “No,” she said, “the Johnston needs us now, leave them be.”

Cavendish glanced toward her. Vahl had already dismissed the Klingon vessel from her immediate thoughts. It was defeated, that was enough. “Get me Korren”

Ty’ler opened the channel.

“Go ahead Captain,” Korren replied over comms.

“What happened?”

“The reaction chamber shifted during weapons impact, with the damage from the first attack the core is now unstable.”

“Can you eject the core?”

“The starboard rail is misaligned. But if we leave the core where it is, structural collapse will rupture containment.”

“How long?”

“Six.”

The number sat heavily on the bridge. Ty’ler looked back over her shoulder at the Captain.

“Six minutes?” Vahl asked.

“Approximately Captain.” Came the response.

“What do you need?”

There was a pause, then Korren’s voice came over the comm again, “everything.”

—–

Main Engineering aboard the USS Johnston was now louder than it had been during the battle. Alarms overlapped one another until individual warnings were almost impossible to tell apart. The warp core still bathed the room in its blue and pale light but the rhythm has become visibly irregular.

Lt Sengar Hesh came running onto the lower level. “Auxilliary coolant flow is holding.”

Korren looked towards him.

“You left Chen at the maintenance station?”

“He is controlling the bypass.”

Another shudder ran through the compartment. A section of overhead plating fell onto the upper walkway. The Johnston’s chief engineer ducked beneath it. “Containment seventy-nine”

Korren stared at the engineering schematic. The problem was almost offensively simple. The core had to leave the ship but everything around it was making that difficult.

The original attack had twisted the starboard ejection rail. The later battle had shifted the surrounding frame again. If they fired the ejection system now, the core would probably strike the side of the ejection aperture before clearing the hull.

Hesh joined her and stood at her side.

“We cannot repair the rail in six minutes.” Korren stated.

“No, Commander.” Hesh replied

“We cannot repair the frame.”

“No.”

“And we can’t stabilise the core in place.”

“No.”

Hesh and Korren looked at the schematic on the display. They we’re both very aware of the time passing. Then something changed in her expression.

Hesh noticed.

“Commander?”

Korren enlarged the exterior structural diagram.

“We don’t repair the frame,” she said as she traded a finger along the damaged engineering section. “We move it.”

“The rail?” the Johnston’s chief asked.

“No, the ship,” Korren continued “If the ejection path cannot clear the hull…”

“We move the hull” Hesh nodded. “Though, that could tear the secondary hull apart.”

Korren looked at him.

“If we do nothing, the warp core will do it for us.” Korren tapped her combadge. “Korren to Horizon.”

—–

Vahl stood beside Ty’ler’s station as Korren’s plan appeared on the display. A model of the Johnston rotated slowly. The damaged engineering hull glowed red. A line extended downward from the warp-core ejection port. At present, it intersected the starboard edge of the hull.

Korren spoke over the comm, explaining her plan to safely eject the Johnston’s core.

Ty’ler was already working. “It could work, but our tractor beam is also supporting their structural frame.”

“Can we use the auxiliary?” Vahl asked.

“Not at full strength.” Ty’ler replied.

Cavendish looked at the status board. “What happens if structural support drops?”

“The aft secondary hull opens.” Korren replied

Cavendish looked towards Vahl. She did not need the explanation.

Korren’s voice returned. “There’s another problem.”

“Go on.” Vahl replied.

“We don’t have enough power to eject the core,” Korren continued “we’ll need to transfer control to the Horizon and leach power from her.”

“We’d have to reduce power to essential systems Captain,” Ty’ler cut in.

“Captain,” Rix interrupted without looking up from his display, “while the Klingons are still withdrawing if they see we’ve dropped shields……”

Vahl held up a hand toward him, “Thank you Lieutenant.” She nodded toward him acknowledging the risk. “Lt Ty’ler transfer power from shields. Rix, if they come back, make sure we’re ready.”

Rix nodded and Ty’ler quickly got to work, her blue Andorian hands moved quickly across the console.

—–

The Horizon’s hospital deck had stopped resembling a hospital. Dr Rob Maguire stepped around a patient lying on a diagnostic pallet in the corridor and nearly collided with a medical technician carrying plasma.

The technician looked exhausted.

“Ward five, tell them I authorised it.” Maguire pointed.

The technician moved quickly. Maguire turned towards empty biobeds as transporter beams activated and two newly injured Johnston personal appeared.

A nurse was already scanning them.

He called across the room, “Green to deck ten, Amber stays here. Red directly to surgery,” he reminded his personnel.

Maguire tapped his combadge, “Maguire to Chief Petty Officer Thorne.”

Rebecca was still aboard the USS Johnston, her reply came quickly “here.”

“How many?” He asked her.

“Eleven critical. Twenty-one stable enough to move under their own power.” She replied.

“The transporter window may close,” he said solemnly.

“I know Doc,” she replied.

“Rebecca.”

She knew the tone, “I’m not leaving patients behind so you can complain at me in person.”

“Once the critical patients are on board I want you back here.” He ordered. He knew the reply he’d get, but he had to say it.

“I’ll be back when I can Doc,” he could hear the smile in her voice “get the kettle on.” She finished the channel cut.

“You better be,” he whispered to himself.

—–

On the Johnston, Rebecca moved down the corridor with a tricorder in hand and a nurse at her side. They discussed the outstanding patients, both very aware that if they were not moved soon them they may not be at all.

They stopped as they reached a young officer in a cadets uniform, partially obscured by an emergency blanket.

The deck beneath them vibrated again. Everyone in the corridor looked around them, some held their breath some recited something so quietly that only they could hear.

“Cadet Ellis?” Rebecca said with a smile.

“Chief.” The cadet replied barely. “Are we evacuating?”

“Yes, don’t worry” she replied.

“Is the ship going to explode?”

Rebecca placed a transporter tag against his uniform. “no,” she replied, “I don’t know where you heard that, everything will be fine.”

A second later the beam took him. One more less patient Rebecca thought.

“that was the last red tag patient in this section,” a medic said from behind her.

“Other sections?” she asked.

“clear chief.”

Rebecca looked around. The corridors that were overflowing hours earlier were nearly empty. Emergency blankets remained. Discarded medical packaging, blood, scorch marks from the skirmish with the Klingons.

“Medical staff?” she asked.

“Moving to the transporter rooms,”

Rebecca tapped her combadge. “Thorne to Maguire, last critical patient transported”

Maguire answered immediately. “And you?”

“Thirty seconds,” she replied and looked at the Nurse who’d stuck next to her the entire time.

“Twenty-five if some stop talking Chief.”

Rebecca picked up an abandoned medical kit, “Come on then.” She said. Both headed out the room and the doors closed behind them.

—–

“Three minutes.” Hesh called because no one else wanted too.

Korren stood at one of the engineering consoles with the Johnston’s chief engineer beside her. The core ejection protocols on the screen.

She glanced to her side at the core. “Still too high to eject.”

Hesh frowned, well the equivalent of one. “Too high?”

“The reaction rate. We fire it at the current output and the ejection shock could collapse containment.”

“I can shut them down manually.” The Johnston’s chief said.

She looked towards him. The manual sequencing procedure was possible. But if the timing was wrong the chamber would destabilise.

Perhaps for one second she could have argues, but it was his ship. She nodded and he moved quickly.

She turned back to her console and tapped her combadge, “Bridge, let the Horizon know, we’re ready.”

—–

Ty’ler looked towards Vahl. “Captain Sand reports the Johnston engineering is ready.”

Vahl was sat in the centre chair watching the time till core breach creep ever closer.  “Ens Rio Rydar?” she said.

The Barzan pilot watched their tractor geometry closely. “Ready,” came the response from the helm.

“Lit Rix?”

“Hostile ship continuing withdrawal. No weapons signatures.” The tactical officer responded.

“Cavendish?”

The first officer checked the evac statis. “The last medical team are transporting now. Engineering crews remain aboard the Johnston with damage control personnel and the command staff.”

Vahl looked toward the viewscreen. The Johnston filled it. The older lines of the Ambassador twisted and scorched in places. But it was still intact and she was not prepared to let her go without a fight.

“Do it” ordered Vahl.

The Horizon and Johnston began to roll relative to one another slowly. A tenth of a degree, then another.

Ty’ler watched the stresses on the Horizon increase, while the bridge crew aboard the Johnston did the same. “Load increasing.” She reported.

Rio made a microscopic correction to the thrusters.

Vahl looked toward Ty’ler, “begin the power transfer,”

“yes ma’am,” the Andorian answered.

The bridge lights dimmed slightly as power was siphoned from the Horizon to support the Johnston. Rix watched his display as the power to the vessels shields disappeared while keeping another eye on the departing Vor’cha.

It did not react.

—–

In Johnston’s engineering Hesh began the shutdown sequence. The pulse of the warp core changing as he inputted commands into the console.

Korren was close by watching the ejection alignment. “Chen?” she called to the other side of the room.

Ensign Wei Chen was still watching the coolant levels, “Holding!” he called back.

“Final cycle,” Hesh said grabbing Korren’s attention.

She nodded in return. For one second nothing happened. Then the display in front of her changed. “Ejection sequence armed.” She said.

Korren hit the control as though the strength of hitting it would make a difference.

Nothing happened.

Everyone froze.

Hesh looked back at containment, “forty-eight percent.” He reported.

“How long?” Korren asked.

“Erm……” came Hesh’s response.

She knew what that mean and closed her eyes.

Hesh suddenly moved, he darted across engineering toward the core itself, slid along the last couple of metres landing both his boots on the side of the cores mounting.

The warp core moved, slowly at first as though it was thinking about moving, the it quickly disappeared down through the deck. The damaged starboard frame passed centimetres from the containment casing. The sound of metal tearing somewhere below them.

For half a second, its blue white glow illuminated the underside of the ship. It was now beyond the hull, tumbling awkwardly away from the Johnston.

Engineering felt dark, not core, not blue light and an vast empty space where it once pulsed.

Nobody spoke.

Hesh checked the console, it reporting that the core was continuing to move away for the vessel. Its containment field remaining intact.

Korren stared too, it did not explode and instead now drifted through the darkness. Now stable.

The Johnston’s chief sat on the deck. Hesh laughed, well what Korren thought was a laugh. Then her combadge chirped.

“Korren, report.” Came Vahl’s voice.

She looked around the room, “well, the Johnston’s no longer got a core.”

There was a pause.

“Well done commander,” Vahl replied. “I liaise with Captain Sand, for now remain on board to assist her engineering team.”

“Yes Captain,” Korren said and cut the channel. She then looked to Hesh, “lets get the lights back on.”

Hesh look back, “again?”

“Apparently” Korren replied with a smile.

—–

The USS Givens arrived forty-six minutes later. By then, the battle was long over. The Klingon cruiser was gone from immediate sensor range, limping away under what remained of its impulse power. Vahl had refused Rix permission to pursue even after the Johnston was stable.

There were too many wounded.

Too many repairs.

The Klingons who’d been captured in their attempted boarding of the Johnston were not secure aboard the Horizon. Data recovered from their craft, combined with identification information Rix and Ty’ler had extracted from the damaged cruiser while its cloak and defensive systems were offline, gave Starfleet enough to begin constructing an answer.

The attackers were Klingon, but they were not under orders of the Defence Force and not under the authority of the High Council. The vessel belonged to a hard line faction associated with some houses opposed to the ongoing collaboration between the Federation and Klingon Empire.

That answered one question. But not the most important one.

Who actually ordered the attack?

K’Vagh had listed to Vahl’s report in silence. When she finished the ambassadors expression had become colder. “This will be dealt with,” was his response.

Vahl had not asked how. Some questions were diplomatic but this was internal to the Klingon Empire and she was content for it to remain that way.

The USS Givens took the Johnston under tractor tow.

Without a core, the Ambassador class vessel was little more than a powered hull, this vessel was going to take longer to repair at a dedicated facility. But after that, it’d be as good as new.

Captain Sand remained aboard her with Commander Keating and a skeleton crew.

The Johnston’s casualty report continued changing as they were able to access previously blocked sections of the ship.

The Horizon had casualties of her own.

Several among security, two who were in a serious condition.

There were empty places aboard both ships that couldn’t be repaired by time at a starbase. So no one celebrated when they’d started moving.

The stars resumed their slow passage across the viewscreen. The USS Givens travelled beside the wounded Johnston, the tractor beam holding the older ship safely in tow towards Starbase 17.

For the first time in hours the bridge aboard the Horizon was quiet. Vahl sat in the centre command chair. Beside her Commander Cavendish was not in his chair. He finally gotten time to retrieve what remained of his belongings from the Johnston and officially become a member of the crew.

Vahl looked at the empty first officer’s chair. It felt different now. Not occupied yet but also no longer waiting for someone who was gone.