12
Slightly later than his ninety minute deadline Lieutenant Granger’s voice came across the bridge speakers.
“Granger to Bridge. Diagnostics complete. We had to replace a few burnt out circuits but the warhead is now fully active.”
“Excellent. How soon can we get under way?”
“She’s ready for restart now, Captain!”
Jim could almost see the prideful smile on Granger’s face as he winced at being called Captain. He had to fight off a sudden urge to vomit as he gave the order to get the ship under way. He sat back in the command seat and watched with pride as his crew, yes they were his crew now, went about their work with a renewed purpose.
“Right then, let’s get going!”
“Yes sir,” replied Lieutenant Flynn as she began the start-up sequence for the vessel. The voices formed a chorus on the bridge as the sequence was gone through.
“Impulse manifold purged and clear.”
“Initiating impulse pre-start sequence.”
“Micro-fusion generators on-line.”
“Culminate the nadion emitters!”
“Culmination sequence in progress.”
Lieutenant Granger arrived on the bridge looking pleased with himself. And well he might! Jim thought as he nodded his thanks to the Engineer whose efforts had saved the ship.
“Dilithium matrix is aligned and calibrated!” he announced as he took his seat. “Opening anti-matter injector ports.”
“Emergency life support and damage control systems standing by.”
“Autonomous guidance system initialised and active.”
“Verify astrometric database!” Jim ordered.
“Data sets loaded and verified,” answered the helm officer.
“Phaser safeties engaged,” called the tactical officer.
“Field stabilisers on-line.”
“Synchronising warp-plasma flow.”
“Nacelles holding at pre-warp threshold.”
“Weapons array on-line! Phasers are fully charged, quantum torpedo launchers loaded and standing by!”
“Helm, set a course for Deep Space Nine, half impulse until we
clear the debris field, then maximum warp!”
“Aye sir. Course plotted and laid in. Firing impulse engines!”
The Hunter ’s crew now held their collective breaths for two reasons. The first was wondering how far they would get before being detected, and the second was would the new warhead hold up under the stress of warp flight? The answer to the first question came very soon after they left the cover of the debris field. They were detected instantly.
To Be Continued....
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