"A Not So Great Escape"
[Previous post: 'Operation Assault, Phase 3']
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Stardate: 60298.1550
Setting: Unspecified shuttle
They had finally escaped. The horrors Lea and Luke had shared were fading away as the blue sky of the world they had been on was replaced by the sparkling light of the stars. Faster than the shuttle was travelling, the memories of their incarceration were disappearing. The old expression felt truer with each passing second; freedom never felt so good.
Visions of an inviting beach and calm ocean waves on some distant planet, far away from wherever this place had been were brought to an abrupt end when the shuttle was violently rocked. The force of the impact had been such that Lea was knocked clear out of her seat unlike Luke who had somehow managed to remain as he was. A man of ever increasing talents, the shuttle's pilot further endeared himself to his fellow escapee by dodging several more shots that flew by them.
"We are not out of it yet are we?” Lea asked, a little uncertainly, while returning to her seat, "They have sent another ship after us, haven't they?"
"Another ship I would be able to handle," Luke said with just a hint of a grin, "but unfortunately there are three of them on our tail and they don't seem to be in a mood to talk."
The shuttle was violently rocked once again as one or more of the perusing ships found their mark against the hull of the ship. It was only thanks to the expert flying skills of Luke that Lea figured that they had survived this long, dodging the majority of the shots aimed at them.
"Isn't there a nebula or an asteroid field that we could use to hide in?" Lea asked, holding on tightly to the edge of her seat. "I would even be willing to risk going through s wormhole if it means that we get away from them once and for all."
While continuing to expertly pilot the shuttle and avoid the newest volleys of energy bolts sent in their direction, Luke actually took a few seconds to look at the sensor data displayed on the flight control console. "There is a highly radioactive nebula a few light years from here. From these readings though I think we would be turned into crispy nuggets long before we would enter it to be able to hide." After dodging another volley, Luke continued in an almost amused way, "The nearest asteroid field is behind us so I guess it is safe to say that it is no longer an option. As for the wormhole, the only one I know for sure is near BAJOR and frankly I have no wish to go face to face with the Founders or their lackeys."
"What about that?" Lea asked, pointing to looked like another planet of the system they were in.
"That my dear," Luke said with a grin, "appears to be a planet made entirely of Romulan Ale."
"What?"
"The planet is entirely covered by a green coloured ocean!" Luke said, correcting his earlier description, "So no place to land leaves us with no place to go. Now if you have forgotten to inform me that you are capable of breathing underwater, I might be convinced to reconsider our go there."
"If this shuttle is space worthy, surely it is capable of surviving a trip through water," Lea said, ready to grasp at whatever option that was available to them.
"Compensating for the vacuum of space and the crushing pressure of water are two entirely different things," Luke replied just as the shuttle was once again hit.
"Three against one," the SFI Agent said, "I'll take the water over continuing to be a target."
Luke turned around to face Lea, ready to argue the lunacy of the idea when the shuttle was once again hit, this time causing a shower of sparks to fly from several of the consoles. The three ships had been instructed to graze the shuttle with their weapons' fire to help create the illusion of a difficult escape. Apparently Xan's incompetence had been contagious and had spread to other members of the cell.
The damage sustained by the shuttle had not been life threatening with the exception that it had deprived Luke of the ability to navigate the shuttle. That they liked it or not, they were heading for the watery world, and there had been nothing that either of them could do about it.
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Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Ensign Lea Summers
Currently:
Undercover SFI Agent
Once assigned as:
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
