Codename Alpha

Chapter 6

"It's... not very good. There's been some sort of disaster. There are many dead and many more injured. This is Ensign Pearce, I'm at a triage center on C-Deck."

"Wait, did something happen to the medbay?" they asked.

"There was a fire. Who am I speaking to, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh! Sorry, Mr. Pearce. I'm Lieutenant Antoni, me and the bridge crew have been stuck up here on the bridge for a while now. Both Captain Blokhin and Commander Martin are unconscious, and their prospects aren't looking good. Shipwide com lines have been hit pretty hard, and the repairs on the comms console itself are not smooth. In fact, this line is probably going to die out soon. Do you know what the condition of the ship is?"

"Somewhat." I rattled through the list of damages I had seen so far.

"Those rings help protect us from stellar radiation... that's not good." I held back a 'yeah, no kidding.' "Now, a while ago, we got some partial power restored to systems up here. Was that your doing?"

"Not technically. An engineer named Harriman and I and I got them back on. It took some doing, but they seem to be running well. Last I heard, he was working on fixing power relays on this deck."

"Harriman's alive?" He exclaimed. "Thank the Prophets... do you know how we are looking with casualties?" He said it in such a hopeful tone that it made me feel sad.

I turned and looked around the room. Two more bodybags had been laid in the corner in the room, bringing the known death count to five, and what used to be a pool table had become a surgeon's table. I pushed the urge to vomit back down once again, and then gave the verdict.

"Not good. At this point, at least fifteen are dead. I'm seeing someone undergoing surgery right now. Many more are injured, too, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that they will succumb to their injuries."

"Oh, jebati..."

His solemn tone disturbed me. I scanned the room to see if I could find Max, just to be safe. He looked like he was resting peacefully, or at least relatively peacefully, against the bulkhead near what used to be the minifridge. Two bandages were wrapped around his right leg, with some bloodstains seeping through, with another on his right arm. Other than that, however, he seemed okay. I was relieved to see that he didn't have any broken bones.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Lieutenant. Do you need anything else?"

"Yes, yes. Alright, we've got four wounded personnel on the bridge. Captain Blokhin and Commander Martin are on that list, and like I said, their conditions are only getting worse. If there's any medical staff to spare in whatever room you're in, please have them report to the bridge."

Static began to phase in over the line.

"Got it. I'm having trouble with the line, is everything alright up there?"

"Plasma torch..." was all I was able to make out. He was either disconnected or the line broke before I could ask any more questions. I put the radio back in its place, and made my way to Max, weaving through medical staff going back and forth. Once there, I crouched next to him.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Better. They stopped the bleeding, which I didn't know I had, and gave me some painkillers. No broken bones, thankfully. Still sore as hell. Apparently, I was also close to passing out from heatstroke, so I've been grooming myself for the past while. I saw you talking on the radio, do we have intership communications?"

"Someone on the bridge managed to get it working again. Briefly, though. It isn't working anymore. Think you can walk?"

"Well, if duty calls, I can't refuse. Climbing ladders is gonna suck, though."