"Not good"
 by Lieutenant jg T'Kang
 Chief Engineer - USS Intrepid


The hatch to the triangular shaped escape pod released with 
a magnetic hiss.  The Engineering and Medical officers on 
the deck of the main shuttle bay floor of the USS Intrepid 
scrambled to recover the twenty "missing" escape pods that 
had somehow disappeared in the course of the battle due to 
an unexplained phenomenon.  Most probably caused by the 
time distortion weapons utilized by the attacking Panthers.

In the many hours after the battle had been won and 
Gamma Ethos IV had been liberated, the Intrepid had once 
again become a single vessel.  The three separate vectors 
docked together to form a single starship.  The engineering 
section was still missing the main warp core, having ejected 
it to stop the Panther attack, but otherwise, things were back 
in one piece.

The recovery of the lost escape pods was proceeding nicely.  
The crewmembers involved in their recovery were anxious to 
open them up and let the trapped officers out of the life pods 
that had been there homes for over 24 hours.

The hiss of the hatch and sudden glare of light from the 
shuttle bay blinded T'Kang.  The power and lighting in the 
tiny, nine man pods had long since been extinguished to 
conserve power for the life support systems.   The Klingon 
let out an animalistic howl as the hatch opened and exposed 
the inside of the pod.

In shock, the rescuing crewmen leaped back in a start as 
they saw seven unconscious crewmembers strapped into 
their seats.  All were splattered with blood, but none worse 
than the Chief Engineer who appeared covered in the 
crimson liquid.  In his arms he held the limp body of 
crewman Darla O'Donald, the young red headed engineering 
team member who appeared to be badly injured.

"Oh my god!" one of the rescuers gasped at the site of the 
bloodied, growling Klingon warrior who was holding 
O'Donald's body as an animal would hold it's freshly killed 
prey.

"Get the medics over here quick!"  Another engineer yelled 
back over his shoulder.  He was standing on top of the 
escape pod and straddling the side next to the hatch.

T'Kang raised one of his hands to shield his sensitive eyes 
from the bright flight deck flood lights of the Intrepid's shuttle 
bay.  His palms were covered in blood, as were the sleeves 
of his gold uniform tunic.

"Are you hurt Ensign?"  one of the rescuers asked the 
Klingon.

T'Kang just growled again in a sort of feral 
acknowledgement to the question while his eyes continued 
to adjust to the bright lights.

"Ensign?  Are you all right?"  the rescuer asked again, still 
not sure if T'Kang understood, or was suffering from shock 
and disorientation.

T'Kang swallowed.  "I am fine."  He managed in a dry, raspy 
voice.  "Miss O'Donald in seriously injured."   The Klingon 
explained handing Darla's limp body up to the waiting 
rescuers.

The med team came racing over to the escape pod and 
immediately called for a backboard and antigrab stretcher.   
"What happened here?"  one of the medical officers asked.

T'Kang handed O'Donald up through the escape pod hatch 
as he spoke.  "Miss O'Donald went crazy.  She can not 
stand being in confined spaces."

The medics took the lithe body of the red head and secured 
her to the board.  She'd lost a lot of blood from the wounds 
to her hands, arms, and head.  Had the medic not known 
better, he'd of thought she'd been badly beaten.  "Contact 
Doctor Desmond, medical emergency."  The medic ordered 
to one of his colleagues.  He then dropped down into the 
escape pod with T'Kang.  "How are the rest of the crew 
members?"

The Klingon turned and looked.  "They past out as our 
oxygen supply grew thin.   Thompsen there has a broken 
wrist.  The others should be uninjured. If they still live."   
T'Kang said weakly as he started to pass out.

The medic caught the bulky Klingon before he fell over.  
"EASY THERE!"   

"I am all right.  Just very tired."  T'Kang said weakly.

Taking out his tricorder, the medic scanned the Klingon and 
glanced at the readings.  "You are suffering from radiation 
poisoning.  Was there a leak in the escape pod?"

T'Kang shook his head from side to side.  "No.  It was, from. 
. . before."

The Klingon's knees went weak.   "Get him out of here and 
to sickbay."  The medic ordered.  "I'll check the others.  
Trioxin should do the trick to bring them around.  Let sickbay 
know we have nine more patients for them.  And notify 
security.  They will probably want to run an investigation."

The other rescuers nodded at the aqua tuniced officer's 
commands.  Quickly, they rushed the critically injured Darla 
O'Donald to sickbay and helping the stumbling Ensign 
T'Kang out of the escape pod.

Within a few minutes, the other seven crewmembers were 
brought around thanks to the oxygenating medication the 
medic had administered via hypospray. 

"Take it easy there.  Your back on board the USS intrepid."  
The medic soothed.

With a sigh of relief, the officer looked upward, as if thanking 
a higher power.  "We made it.  I can't believe it."  he gasped.

"What happened in here?"  the medic asked out of curiosity.

The officer looked at him and the pain and horror could be 
seen upon his face.  "It was awful.  That Engineer went 
crazy.  Tried to open the pressure door and get out of the 
pod.  Started thrashing around and beating on the rest of the 
crew . . . ."

"The Klingon did that?"  the medic asked.

"No, not the Klingon.  The red-head.  She went crazy wild.  
Said she had to get out of the escape pod.  That she couldn't 
breathe.  The Klingon had to stop her from blowing the 
pressure doors off the escape pod and killing us all.   It was, 
terrible!"

"Well, try to relax.  We are going to send you all to sickbay 
just to check you out and make sure everything is all right.   
Are you injured?"

"No.  But Thompsen broke his wrist over there."

The medic turned and looked at the opposite bulkhead of the 
three-sided escape pod.  Each wall had three chairs 
arranged side by side for a total of nine seats.  "Did he break 
it in the altercation?"

"No.  Was broke before, but O'Donald bent it back while we 
were trying to wrestle her under control.   Finally T'Kang had 
to just knock her out before someone got seriously injured."

"Well, let's get you out of here and make room to treat the 
others.   You'll be fine now.  Welcome back home to the 
Intrepid."

The officer smiled.  "Thanks.  It's great to be back."