Midnight Mine.
“Iurret'na!”
The shades lingered, even now, beneath the hard bridge lights. It was loud, louder than before. That thaessu ryak'na had opened a door somewhere, cracked a casing, and nothing whistled through. It followed him beneath the walls, biting at his heels.
His feet fell heavy across the floor, caught against the grates and turned him back and forth as he marched the length of the bridge. Couldn't go back to quarters, they were different, half inset and all foreign. Tasted etrevon, blue and green, like silence. Couldn't sleep, not with all this noise. The systems were clocking off, one by one.
The warpcore had gone first.
It was trash. Narada had tried to consume it, eat the core and make it into something that worked halfway. Not enough material, never enough. Etrevon could replicate dilithium, he'd done it before. Not enough energy in the system. She could keep them floating, if only on solar.
That wouldn't be indefinite.
Nero seethed as he slumped back into the Captain's chair. It was a horrible creation, uncomfortable and hard, all klivam. The panel on the arm ticked by, a message in Standard sent by Isha've. He'd read it a hundred times its length and waited. Watched the Enterprise off their prow, just hanging there.
“Rrh-thanai,” Nero uttered slowly and cocked his head. There was no answer, Ayel was off somewhere. He had Spock, they wouldn't risk firing, risk harming her. Panic, however, was a tricky thing when lloann'na were involved. No honor among them, they were erratic. Couldn't have a firefight without losing air.
“Aithaen.” The main screen twisted, flickered, and the planet came into focus. An alert danced in purple across the screen. Their orbit was going to begin decay within the hour. Cold air slipped through his nose and he twisted his teeth together as he waited for the silence to pass. It lulled and he spoke again. “Rhaaer taekhos chaerh.”
The planet spiraled back, caught in a hexagon of amber. A path, all vectors and five point numerals, twisted around the sphere and the display warped as it touched northern surface. The sensors were fdvata, read off in threes, half power and all solar. Caelis'caeri. Akkhoii/faehun. Enough to refill the warpcore thrice. A midnight mine full.
The numbers flashed and he stared hard. The screen flicked to gray, twisted and went dark as the solar battery charged. He could feel the pull of the planet and the nothing was leaking through the hull. He hated looking down. It was time to look up again.
“Sthea' khaiell ekhau.” The computer broke the stillness and agreed in shades of purple and amber. His hand caught the arm as the gravity shifted. “Lohia alhu meraere crawae. Ayel, faeruwa.”
The shades lingered, even now, beneath the hard bridge lights. It was loud, louder than before. That thaessu ryak'na had opened a door somewhere, cracked a casing, and nothing whistled through. It followed him beneath the walls, biting at his heels.
His feet fell heavy across the floor, caught against the grates and turned him back and forth as he marched the length of the bridge. Couldn't go back to quarters, they were different, half inset and all foreign. Tasted etrevon, blue and green, like silence. Couldn't sleep, not with all this noise. The systems were clocking off, one by one.
The warpcore had gone first.
It was trash. Narada had tried to consume it, eat the core and make it into something that worked halfway. Not enough material, never enough. Etrevon could replicate dilithium, he'd done it before. Not enough energy in the system. She could keep them floating, if only on solar.
That wouldn't be indefinite.
Nero seethed as he slumped back into the Captain's chair. It was a horrible creation, uncomfortable and hard, all klivam. The panel on the arm ticked by, a message in Standard sent by Isha've. He'd read it a hundred times its length and waited. Watched the Enterprise off their prow, just hanging there.
“Rrh-thanai,” Nero uttered slowly and cocked his head. There was no answer, Ayel was off somewhere. He had Spock, they wouldn't risk firing, risk harming her. Panic, however, was a tricky thing when lloann'na were involved. No honor among them, they were erratic. Couldn't have a firefight without losing air.
“Aithaen.” The main screen twisted, flickered, and the planet came into focus. An alert danced in purple across the screen. Their orbit was going to begin decay within the hour. Cold air slipped through his nose and he twisted his teeth together as he waited for the silence to pass. It lulled and he spoke again. “Rhaaer taekhos chaerh.”
The planet spiraled back, caught in a hexagon of amber. A path, all vectors and five point numerals, twisted around the sphere and the display warped as it touched northern surface. The sensors were fdvata, read off in threes, half power and all solar. Caelis'caeri. Akkhoii/faehun. Enough to refill the warpcore thrice. A midnight mine full.
The numbers flashed and he stared hard. The screen flicked to gray, twisted and went dark as the solar battery charged. He could feel the pull of the planet and the nothing was leaking through the hull. He hated looking down. It was time to look up again.
“Sthea' khaiell ekhau.” The computer broke the stillness and agreed in shades of purple and amber. His hand caught the arm as the gravity shifted. “Lohia alhu meraere crawae. Ayel, faeruwa.”