Crisis on Cressida, Part 5

Returning to Cressida after repairing the hijacked Starfleet shuttle and stopping the massive creature on the planet below, the crew was confronted by Administrator Damaad’s armed security forces on the shuttle landing pad. Damaad herself was woken up from sedation and angrily demanded an explanation. Captain Ral convinced her to stand down with a very persuasive speech about the necessity of commandeering her shuttle and reminding her that it was now returned undamaged and with plenty of time to spare. His words were underscored by a sudden intense tremor that knocked out the city’s power. In the eerie emergency lighting, one of Damaad’s aides explained that the city’s main support had been destroyed, the reactor was no longer attached, and the city was rapidly disintegrating. Damaad frustratedly ordered her people onto the shuttle and to finally evacuate, but still groggy from the sedative, warned the Captain who has no antennae to “sleep with one antenna open.”

With minutes left before the city completely crumbled to pieces exposing everyone remaining aboard to the vacuum of space, the crew leapt into action. Lieutenant Hagen worked with her engineering team aboard the Hanesawa to engage a tractor beam on a self-contained portion of the city, temporarily holding it together and buying more time to complete the evacuation. Lieutenant Cohnson piloted shuttlecraft towing storage containers filled with evacuees up to the ship, effectively doubling the number of people transported until the shuttle tractor emitters were overtaxed and burned out. Back aboard, Cohnson piloted the Hanesawa closer to the now separated chunk of the city being held in the tractor beam with assistance from Lt. Hagen and Captain Ral, aligning the ship as closely as possible, allowing the last of the evacuees to be safely extricated from the city. As the fragile remainder of the city began to break apart beneath their feet, the crew was able to leap from the disintegrating platform into the Hanesawa shuttle bay, watching as the last remnants of the city finally fell away into the crushing gravitational depths of Kizomic VI.

After a short and uneventful trip, the Hanesawa arrived at Starbase 343. The rescued civilians were unloaded and Urotoxa was taken into custody by Starbase Security. Captain Ral answered a communication from Admiral Dougherty who explained that Urotoxa had just been released to a ship that was departing as they spoke. As a non-Federation citizen she was not subject to laws regarding the Prime Directive, and there’s no evidence that she committed any other offenses. He notes that the Captain should be careful in case of future run-ins with her or Damaad, but ultimately congratulates the crew on their unorthodox but successful methods on this mission.