Tanna stumbled vacantly through the mud and rain towards the lab. Her left arm was slung up with a torn and filthy bit of Abigail’s uniform, her right hand held a loose grip on a handheld phaser. She knew there were Remans throughout the area, and disruptor fire flashed through the air around her, but she didn’t care. Her whole body was numb from shock and pain. The other remaining officer from their little group kept beckoning her to get down and take cover, but she only half heard him. Miraculously, she made it back to the lab alive, without being shot. With difficulty she got back through the escape hatch and collapsed onto the floor. A fellow ensign swooped down over her, whipped out a tricorder and took a quick scan.

“You’re lucky to be alive.” she said pointedly, then she turned to the crowd. “You, get me some alcohol.” she ordered, pointing to someone.

“We don’t have any.” said the Centurion, moving to the front of the group. “Are you a doctor?”

“Shit.” the ensign said softly, “No, I’m not, but I do have some first aid training, so I’ll have to make it work. Okay, then get me some clean water and fresh bandages. You do have water and bandages, correct?”

“Yes, of course. we have water.” replied the Romulan officer. “But we don’t have bandages. The doctor was killed in the initial attack, and there’s no way anyone is going to look for supplies. That’s suicide!”

“Fine,” said the ensign, stripping off her own tunic and handing it to someone. “Cut this into strips, and bring it back here.” She pointed into the Centurion’s office. “Clear that desk, and get some lights. Let me see what I can do with this.”

The Centurion waved his hand, and the small crowd began milling about the lab, gathering the requested items. The desk was cleared hastily, and Tanna was carried into the office and laid on the table. She felt a small pinch on her neck and heard the hiss of a hypospray. Her vision started to darken as the ensign’s face swam into view. “I’ll do the best I can for you, but it’s best you’re unconscious” were the last words Tanna heard as her eyes closed.

Tanna woke up with a start, and sat bolt upright. She was still laying on the desk, and her left arm was now properly wrapped in torn strips of gold tunic. There were noises coming from outside that said the lab was now surrounded, and being fired upon. She swung her legs over the side of the desk, hopped down onto her feet, and her head immediately started to swim. She swooned, and was forced to sit back down on the desk to stop the room from spinning.

“That’s some powerful shit I gave you” said the ensign, who now had a cut over her eye, “It’ll take a minute for your head to clear, but the pain shouldn’t get worse for another few hours. It’s best to stay put for a moment. Here, take this.” she handed Tanna a canteen full of water and a small foil package.

Tanna drank deeply from the canteen, and tore open the package. She didn’t enjoy emergency rations, but it felt like it had been weeks since she last ate. She wolfed it down quickly to avoid tasting it too much, and washed it down happily with more water. “How long was I out?” She asked finally, wiping the water off her chin.

“About 6 hours.” replied the ensign, as more disruptor fire flashed against the shields of the lab.

“How can I help?” Tanna asked, as she tried slowly to stand again, successful this time.

“We really could use someone who can handle a phaser.” replied the ensign, “Think you can handle that?”

“Yea, I think so.” said Tanna, crossing the small office and joining the group of people in the lab. The security officer who brought her back gave her a weak smile as she approached him, and handed her a handheld phaser. She took it, and then gave a small smile in return. “Thanks for keeping me alive.” she said quietly.

“I’m sure you’ll have a chance to return the favor soon if the storm doesn’t let up.” he replied. “They keep trying to get in. They cut our main power, and the battery back-up is starting to run low. At this rate, they’ll get through the shields in another hour, then……” his voice trailed off, but Tanna knew what he would have said. Their plan was looking like no survivors.

“Well,” Tanna said, trying to sound confident, “Maybe the ships in orbit will save us before long.” She knew how long the storm was due to last, and she knew now how long the shields would hold out, and those numbers did not add up. There would be more fighting before she was out of this.

“Yea, maybe.” he said thickly. ” I’m thinking of heading up to the roof to try and pick some of them off one the shield fails. They are definitely going to hit this front door hard, and I want to take as many of them with me as I can.” He moved to the back wall of the room, where someone was on a table cutting a hole through the roof. Before long the section fell to the floor with a crash, and the sound of the torrential rains hitting the shield became louder. The young man tossed his phaser rifle up to the roof, and then hoisted himself up through the hole.

Tanna stayed on the floor, waiting tensely as the last of the power reserves were depleted. The lights flickered, and then, all at once, everything went dark. There was a kind of silence that fell, as all of the humming and whirring of the various lights and equipment ceased, and the rain now fell through the hole in the roof, pounding down onto the metal lab table. It wasn’t totally dark, which told her that morning was coming. that would at least give them a chance to hit something.

After a tense few seconds all hell broke loose, as a hail of green bolts, now unhindered by the shield, tore through the thin metal walls of the lab. Tanna dropped prone, wincing at the growing pain in her left shoulder. A fine time to wear off. she thought bitterly to herself as she crawled one handed into the office. She sat up, her back against the wall beside the door, peeking around the corner. She was soon joined by the Centurion, who has drawn his own disruptor and sat opposite Tanna. Three more joined them, and they all cowered under the desk.

BANG. BANG. BANG. The door was being beaten in. Angry shouts were coming from outside as red phaser bolts were issuing from the roof. It seems they weren’t able to reach him up there. Not yet anyway. CRASH! The doors to the lab buckled inwards as one of the Remans ran headlong through them. Tanna fired her phaser, and the Reman let out a scream of pain as they were vaporized. Two more Remans came in, and the were taken out by the Centurion.

“We’ll be dead for sure if we stay put.” he said. “There’s no way out in this office. We need to get onto the roof!”

“Agreed.” Tanna replied, vaporizing another Reman that came through the door. They stood, and beckoned the three others to follow them. Two crawled out at once, but the third stayed behind, shaking violently. “C’mon,” Tanna urged, “You’ll die if you stay here!” He shook his head violently, and cowered even lower.

“Leave him!” shouted the Centurion, firing out the door to provide some cover. Tanna cast one more look back at him, and then turned to help get the others outside. She covered with her one good arm while he hoisted the others onto the roof, and then he covered her as she got onto the table. He went first, then he reached back down to grab her and pull her up. Tanna’s last glance of the lab was a group of Remans wading through the victims. and firing into the office.