You step to a panel to the side of the Communications officer's station and press a button. You speak into the intercom, “Bridge to Lieutenant McClusky. Prepare a boarding party for a rescue mission. Colony ship, life support damaged, exact conditions unknown. Please acknowledge.”

A strong female voice comes out of the intercom speaker. “Confirmed. Rescue party, colony ship, unknown environmental circumstances. Two patrols will suit up for hard vacuum with the rest on standby until more data is available.”

The speaker goes dead and you return to your position next to the Captain's chair. “Marines informed. Two patrols will be in full environment suits by the time we rendezvous. The rest are awaiting more information before determining how much gear they will need.”

The Captain nods his acknowledgment and studies the main display. The colony ship's location has just appeared along with data such as relative speed, course, and other important pieces of information. The name Star Settler appears above the ship's icon.

Captain Hogarth turns to the Engineering station. “Chief Griswold, verify fuel levels and prepare to spin up the sublight drive. Once we are out of FTL, leave the ramscoops closed and run us on generator power. We'll about collecting hydrogen and recharging the FTL drive after completing the rescue operations.”

The Chief Engineer taps a few keys on his panel. “Understood, sir. Sublight fuels levels are sufficient for standard maneuvering and docking procedures. If it looks like we will be here an extended time, we can open the ramscoops and grab some hydrogen while docked to the colony ship.”

The Captain presses a button on the armrest of his chair. The ship-wide address system emits the customary tones that alert everyone to an important announcement. “Attention all hands. We are diverting from our planned course to respond to a distress call from a colony ship. Exact conditions are unknown at this time. Boarding parties are already prepared. Medical and Engineering teams standby until we know if we are assisting their crew or evacuating their ship. Prepare for transition from FTL to normal space in 15 minutes from my mark...Mark!”

Decks below your feet, repair technicians and medical teams are checking their kits to ensure all of their tools are present. The engine room is bustling with activity as readings are checked and double checked for the changeover from one drive to another.

Your mental countdown to the deactivation of the FTL drive reaches 14 seconds when the ship is suddenly rocked. Some of the system indicators on the main display have gone from green to red. The navigational display should have narrowed to the area as the ship entered normal space, but it continues to show the larger interstellar maps used when traveling faster-than-light.

Alarms begin ringing all over the ship and red lights activate. It is only the discipline of the experienced crew that prevents any of them from panicking.

The Captain starts bellowing out orders. “All decks, damage reports. Engineering, why did we not drop back into normal space? Helm, keep our course in a tight spiral so we don't drift too far from the Settler. Communications, notify the Settler that we will be delayed until further notice.”

Engineering Chief Griswold types maniacally on his console. “Captain, I am getting no readings from Engineering at all. There was a spike in the power flow out of the sublight engine as it was powering up. The next thing I know, all systems are dead.”

The Captain activates the intercom again, “Bridge to Engineering, what is the status of the engines?”

There is no response. Captain Hogarth looks at the Communications officer. She checks a few indicators on her panel. “Sir, internal ship communications are offline. My systems aren't showing any activity off the bridge.”

The Captain turns to you. “We need to find out what is happening in Engineering. You and Chief Griswold get down there and find out what is going on. In the meantime, we will get the intercom working again.”

You and Engineer Griswold step into the lift at the back of the bridge and ride down to the Engineering deck.

If you get off the lift early to get a Medic on the way to Engineering, click HERE.

If you go directly to Engineering to assess the damage, click HERE.