Diell Breaker (LGBT- Sci-Fi - Romance)

Chapter 35

Chapter 35 

"Better watch your back, sir," Shehu advised in a low voice, after the meeting had finished and Farrell had dismissed the crew. 

Farrell looked a little startled then nodded. Given his known expertise in hand to hand combat, if someone decided to express their disapproval it was unlikely to be to his face. 

"The same goes for you, Lieutenant," he replied, "And warn Petrov would you? I think we should all be on our guard for the next few days at least." 

Shehu continued in a low voice, a little self-consciously, "By the way, I want to thank you for changing your policy on oms, I really appreciate it, neither of us wanted to leave the Diell." 

"Yes, well, I still don't know if I've done the right thing. It feels like I've taken the easy way out." 

The other man looked surprised. "I don't think so, Captain. It's easy to have principles if they are never put to the test, anyone can say stay celibate if they're the only person on the asteroid! It seems to me, if they are to have any value, principles have to be put into practice in the real world." 

The Captain frowned, maybe Shehu had a point. He supposed he should feel grateful that he was the Captain and therefore unlikely to be subject to the usual ways men had of paying someone out. No-one was likely to physically manhandle him or be disrespectful to his face. However he noticed most men were suddenly putting him at arm's length, taking refuge in excessive formality, coolly unapproachable where there had been conversation and smiles before. Not very much, it was true, he had always encouraged a rather brisk professionalism when interacting with the crew but he could see the difference when it was gone. He wondered how long it would last. 

The Diell was scheduled to return to Capella that day, escorting the Voyager, and Shehu made sure everyone was kept busy preparing for departure and running spot checks on equipment. He wanted the crew to have no time for brooding. With the Captain's permission, he intended to run a series of drills every hour until they reached Capella, he thought work was what everyone needed while they came to terms with what had happened. 

XXX 

Later that afternoon, when both ships were in transit back to Capella, Farrell decided to take the shuttle over to the Voyager. He had a few issues he wanted to discuss personally with Captain Asaro, but in reality he simply wanted a break from the atmosphere on the Diell. Lieutenant Nguyen offered to pilot the shuttle and at the last minute, a squad of four crewmen went with them to see for themselves how the Voyager was coping with the live transports.  

They were half way across the one kay gap of space between the two vessels when an alarm sounded in the control panel. Nguyen was startled, he couldn't recall ever hearing the alarm before but he promptly called up a diagnostic assessment. What the-? Fire? How on Earth could there be a fire in the control panel? 

He barely had time to activate the response unit when flames burst out of the panel in front of him, accompanied by foul smelling black smoke. Three of the four crewman were already putting on emergency masks, the response automatic to the sound of the alarm, the fourth a fraction slower to respond. Farrell snatched up a second mask for Nguyen and came forward quickly, the word 'fire' flashing into his disbelieving mind. He had just reached the smaller man when the whole panel seemed to explode in front of them, shooting flames and smoke into the small cabin. He grabbed Nguyen unceremoniously by the arm and hauled him backwards out of his seat and away from the flames. He couldn't tell for certain, but he thought the shuttle had stopped moving, however that was the least of their problems. A fire in space could eat all the available oxygen in minutes.  

The response unit finally kicked in, smothering the fire with a light film of retardant, causing the flames to die out in seconds. However the smoke remained, heavy in the air, making it difficult to see. He thought he could smell it, even though he knew the emergency mask meant he was getting compressed air. Farrell helped Nguyen get his mask on, then contacted Shehu on the Diell.  

The bridge had already been notified by the shuttle's communication system that there was trouble on board and Shehu was both expecting and relieved to hear the Captain's voice. 

"We're all fine," he advised crisply, "but the shuttle is out of action. There was a fire in the control panel." 

"A fire?" Shehu was astounded and he could see heads lifting around the room to stare at him in equal disbelief. Modern space vessels simply didn't have fires, not normally. 

"I've been in touch with Lieutenant Cheung on the Voyager, Captain," Shehu advised. "He's on his way to you in their shuttle. He'll reach you faster than any stealth pods." 

"That's good, patch me through to him would you? Cheung? Farrell here. We had a fire in the control panel and we are all on emergency oxygen." He spoke quickly, trying to give the other man the critical information he needed. "The sooner you can get here the-!"  

Suddenly the control panel in front of him exploded again, slicing through all communication. The force of the explosion sent the shuttle spinning through space, men, equipment, pieces of debris, everything floating in null G as the gravititor shut down, directing all available remaining energy to life support. The word 'bomb' just had time to blossom in his mind before everything went black.