"Heading Back"
[previous "Simple Madness"]

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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Stardate: 31200.0230

Jayson sat at the Operations station, his hands still covered with the marks of his labor on the ANUBIS' system. The ship had set a course back the NEW ALEXANDRIA the moment the engines had been ready. He knew that a few more hours could have been used but after what they had heard, no one had been willing to wait.

From across the bridge Ya'Han glanced back at Jayson, the two of them sharing feelings without words.  Paris had been erased from the surface of the EARTH and everyone felt something whether or not that had been from that planet or not.  Jayson had visited the city during one of his Academy breaks along with a few classmates. The memories he had were of a charming place filled with bistros and carefree visitors. The appeal of Paris reached to all corners of the Federation, and that had likely been why the outrage had not been limited to those who called EARTH their home.

A minor rumble passed through the ship which made the Captain look over at the Ops Officer.

"Nothing major," Jayson reported.  "The port-aft structural integrity generator is not working at full power.  As long as we stay at warp 3 or below we should not have any issues other than the occasional shake."

The Captain had not been pleased. At warp 3 the journey back to NEW ALEXANDRIA would take far longer than he had wanted it to, but pushing the engines and the ship right now risked more than a late arrival.

"Lieutenant Paquette and her engineers are on their way to that system now," ANI said as she walked up to stand next to Jayson.

"As soon as she gets it fully operational we should be able to increase speed to warp 4, maybe even 5," Stark said more out of hope than actual fact. The ANUBIS still required a great deal of repairs and there just had been so much that the Chief Engineer could do in the time that she had been given.

"The crew is tired," Shar'El quietly added.

"I know," the Captain accepted.  "Ensign Stark keep an eye on our systems and increase speed whenever possible without risking the ship or the crew."

"Aye Sir."

"Do we still have the BASTET on our sensors?" Commander Shar'El asked, the woman having been curious as to the state of the ship that they had been forced to leave behind.

"Last thing we got was them entering the GAMMA ERADI Cluster. After that nothing. Given the composition of the cluster we knew that we would not be able to follow them once they entered, and that was with us being right there next to them," Jayson answered.

"It was hoped that we might find a way to get through the interference, at last that was before we ran into those lovely miniature explosives," the First Officer continued.  "The mystery of the cluster was always going to be the BASTET's to solve but it would have been nice if we could have stayed to help if something went wrong."

"I think Paris being obliterated from existence qualifies as something wrong and requiring our attention," Stark pointed out in a way that might have been a little less respectful than it should have been.

"That is why we are heading back Ensign," the Captain said bringing the bridge to silence.

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Jayson Sousa

Ensign Jayson Stark
Chief of Operations
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501