2Sparks showered down in searing arcs, splattering against the buckled deck plates so close to her battered face that she flinched subconsciously at their heat.
Saavik coughed, tasting the bitter copper tang of her blood, and choked on the acrid cloud of rapidly spreading smoke. Pain ripped along her legs and burned across her chest and she clenched her teeth. She forced her already badly tearing eyes open, trying to ignore the way they blurred the distorted wreckage and cringed against the almost blinding flashing crimson sear of the klaxons. The crackle and hissing pops of overloaded circuitry added to the cacophony of the crazed warning blares, pushing the horrific roaring in her ears to new levels.
But it was the rippling wind sound of the fire that filled her mind.
What happened? Were we . . . attacked?
She fumbled for the restraints that pinned her so viciously still to the overthrown pilot's chair, hissing as torn fingertips found uncomfortably hot metal and wrenched. Overstressed metal abruptly gave and she shoved against the twisted remains of her console, the jagged edges gouging in the soft flesh of her palms. But Vulcan strength prevailed and with a terrible high-pitched shriek, it ground slowly back. Scrambling for purchase, she sucked her breath in and twisted, contorting unbelievably through the sudden opening, gasping painfully as metal caught and tore down the length of her body, ripping blackened uniform and skin beneath alike. She flung herself clear, coughing now spasmodically, and tried to reorient herself.
The others. Where were the others?
A sudden fear stabbed her heart.
Do we still have containment?
Then she was grabbing for handholds and dragging herself upright over wreckage. She staggered as fresh waves of pain flared, bringing nausea and near instant blackout. Her jaw clenched, forcing control, and she stumbled to the aft of the prison transport.
The first set of bulkhead doors were entirely twisted out of alignment and she dropped to her knees and half slid, half pulled herself through the remains of the frame itself.
And found the first body as she fell across it.
The reeking choke of seared flesh made her gag reflexively. The heat warped insignia against the remains of his charred shoulder was that of a lieutenant commander.
Harris.
She crawled over the top of him, eyes stinging in earnest now from the acrid smoke and pushed upright again, trying to move faster.
She wanted to refuse to acknowledge the other young body impaled through with the fallen I-beam, the mousey head snapped back and hanging loosely.
Joniez.
The second set of doors were bulged outward impossibly. Saavik hesitated, checking for the deadly warning signs of an unseen hull breach.
She felt a sudden relief.
Strained but still holding.
For now.
With a hot spurt, her nose began to bleed and she felt dizzy. She staggered back, trying desperately to focus against the rising darkness and forced herself to go back and search the bodies.
There was still a phaser strapped to the bowel splattered thigh that used to belong to Joniez. She tore it off, grimly ignoring the sticky blackening gore coating it and altered its setting. She found the utility access panel offering the best promise and ripped off its protective covering. Taking not too steady aim, she pulled the trigger.
White hot energy shot forward and she thumbed the setting still higher, drawing a molten line. The security hinges gave and she pulled back, clutching the phaser tightly, and kicked with everything she still had again and again. With a reluctant snap, it finally gave, hitting the deck beyond with a dull metallic clang. Smoke poured instantly through and she choked, battling against it wildly. Then she was forcing her way through, body screaming pain.
Of the security guards on the other side, only Ames was still alive.
Saavik ground her teeth together and started to painfully dig the woman out. Halfway through, as she was sweating in mid-heave of the smoldering main strut that had nearly crushed the guard entirely, she realized that the human had died. She lowered the strut and turned to the third bulkhead doors.
A terrible anger filled her as she found them still mostly untouched, scorched and gouged, but quite operable.
The rest of the small transport was almost mangled beyond recognition but the prisoner holding section was markedly untouched.
An impossible condition for anything less than a deliberate action.
This was a prisoner release attempt.
Saavik's fingers tightened on the phaser in her fist and she stabbed in her emergency security command override.
The great doors rolled back, squealing only slightly in their frames, and like a wraith she went in.
A sheered off length of piping swung through the air so blinding fast that it was only pure bitterly engrained childhood instinct that flung her sideways in time and saved her skull from being outright crushed. As it was, she caught a terrible glancing blow that tore hair from her scalp and sent a sharp lance of terrible pain through her left ear. Blood poured down the side of her face hotly and with a wordless roar of outrage, she spun, fury giving unnatural speed to her training, and she snapped her leg out against her attacker, connecting hard with a satisfactory crack of boot heel. Metal clattered hollowly to the deck, followed by the dull boneless thump of the unconscious.
Saavik stared down at the prison grey, the security restraint shackles on smooth wrists and ankles, and the tracking collar locked still locked firmly about the white throat. Her eyes found the cell behind the prone body and narrowed hard.
The containment computer still operated perfectly.
And yet, the force field was down.
She carefully stepped over the collapsed form and inspected the console.
The lockdown code had been overridden.
She frowned uneasily and her fingers wrapped tighter around the phaser.
Someone in the transport's security had been compromised.
Saavik turned around, thumbing the power setting of her phaser to its highest place. Disintegration.
The woman groaned and rolled slowly painfully over.
"Valeris," Saavik said with almost surreal calm.
The other Vulcan absolutely froze and just for an instant something very much like shame flickered in those black eyes. Then the mask of control she knew so well from days past clamped tight in place and the narrow chin rose defiantly arrogant. Dark lashed eyes took in the phaser's setting and then a small superior line moved in her mouth.
"Revenge? How Romulan of you."
But Saavik's strange calm-was it finally shock setting in?-could not be provoked and she merely used what was left of her uniform sleeve to blot at the blood from both her nose and scalp.
"And I suppose," she said quietly, "that you had only the purest of Vulcan intentions in killing me?"
Valeris spread her fingers innocently. "How could I have known it was you?"
"For the record, I do not actually find murder more acceptable if it is merely not directed at me." Saavik studied Valeris' eyes as understanding came to her trauma shaken mind. "We have been attacked carefully to preserve the holding section of this ship and you have been released from your cell, this is obviously a removal attempt, rather than an assassination. Yet, your response to my entrance, however, now suggests that you know this is not to your benefit."
Valeris licked her dry lips and Saavik knew she was noting only all too well that the phaser hadn't been reset or holstered. "We should abandon ship."
"We should reintroduce you to your cell."
Valeris flicked a growingly uneasy look through the still open section doors. "They will be coming."
"Who?"
The woman swallowed and shut her mouth firmly.
"Valeris, I cannot protect you successfully if I do not know who the enemy is."
Around them, the transport shuddered and both women could now hear the addition of a new klaxon wail to the chaotic alarms.
Somewhere unauthorized access to an airlock was being attempted.
Valeris whitened. "We need to get off this ship! Now!"
Saavik stared down at Valeris, trying to think past her injuries to determine her best course of action.
Prison transport ships had outer hulls specifically designed to prevent transporter beams being used to free prisoners or introduce boarders. Valeris could not be scanned for and then simply removed by transporter, which meant the ship had to be ambushed, beaten into submission, and then boarded to allow manual extraction.
As it was more than likely happening now.
However, they also had inner hulls designed just as particularly to allow tricorder scans complete noninterference to allow Security to locate escapees swiftly. Which meant she could not hide them without being simply hunted down by either whoever had sent the override code through its systems to allow Valeris' release-assuming he, she or they were even still alive somewhere-or whoever was now trying to get inside the ship.
And fighting a battle on a dying ship with unknown hidden enemies amongst whoever remained alive combined with unknown numbers and armament of boarding enemies who were obviously only concerned in taking Valeris alive, all while being currently alone, injured, poorly armed, and trying to guard a prisoner who could not be trusted not to turn on her at the first opportunity presented would be very much insane.
As much as she did not want to admit it, Valeris was entirely correct.
Their only viable option right now was to escape.
The questions were now how and where to.
Saavik clenched her teeth, bent and hauled Valeris unceremoniously to her feet. "Do not make me regret this. Now move!"