===Inside the shuttle=== Keylor sat in the co-pilots chair waiting for Jason to give the ready signal. Thought it had only been a few minutes, it seemed like an eternity. Keylor was not so much as anxious to leave the station for fear of the intruders; he was more concerned with getting back to the ship and trying to figure out what the aliens were up to. Keylor did not have to wait much longer when Jason appeared at the front of the shuttle. He pointed to the Starfleet lieutenant and nodded. Jason then quickly disappeared around the side of the shuttle. Keylor sat patiently as the lieutenant started tapping buttons. Soon the shuttle started to sputter with life. As expected, the shuttle was having troubles coping with the effects of the event horizon of the sub space portal that covered the station. Keylor watched as the lieutenant worked at a fever pitch trying to adjust and cajole the shuttle in to some form of operation. Like some elegant finger dance, the lieutenant quickly stabilized the flickering console to an minor fade in and out effect. Keylor smiled to himself remembering the blinking lights of a disco he once visited back in boot camp. Anxious to get moving, he struggled to keep quiet and let the lieutenant do her job and prepare the shuttle for launch. After a few minutes she looked over at Keylor. "Sir I think we should be ok to fly. Though I am showing some odd fluctuations in the couplings to the thrusters. It might be a bit bumpy until we clear the shuttle bay doors." Keylor nodded. "How about controlling the bay doors? Are we able to open them remotely?" he asked. The lieutenant Quickly tapped on her console. She then looked back at Keylor with a worried look. "No sir, the doors don't seem to be responding to the commands. How are we going to get out!" she said in a worried voice. Keylor stood up from the chair and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Leave that to me. You just be ready to fly this thing." She nodded and pasted on an obviously fake smile. Keylor then headed to the rear of the cockpit where he pulled out an EVA suite he had scavenged form the station. Half of the way of getting the EVA suit on, Keylor heard a yell come from out side of the shuttle. It was Jason trying to inform them that a few of the ghostly aliens had appeared. Still trying to heave his arms in to the suite he called out the open shuttle door to Jason, "Corporal, hold them off for a few more minutes. We are almost ready to go." Jason called back "Aye SIR!" Keylor looked back in to the shuttle as he accomplished getting his arms in to the suit. He noticed Rangi approaching. "Sir? What are you doing?" she asked with a l9ook of concern. Keylor fastened the front of his suit and motioned for Rangi to follow him. They both walked up to the cockpit where Keylor sat down and put on anti-gravity boots. "Doctor," he said struggling with the now apparently small sized boots. "Some one will have to open the bay doors manually. Because there is not force field over the doors, the bay will decompress. I am putting on a suit to be able to accomplish this task." Rangi looked back n to the shuttle. She noticed the absence of an air lock on the shuttle. She then looked back at Keylor. "Colonel? If the bay decompresses, how will you get back in to the shuttle?" Keylor stood up and grimaced a bit at the feeling of the small boots. He then grabbed his life support system and pulled it over his head. "Well doctor, I suspect I will not." He said bluntly. He noticed Rangi's sour expression. He busily checked all of his suit connections as he continued to respond. "My guess is that the emergency transporter will not function in this blue haze. So I will have to try to hitch a ride on the shuttle until we clear this event horizon and I can be beamed on to the shuttle." He picked up the helmet and then looked at Rangi. He smiled, "Don't worry, should be fun. I always wanted to.... Ride a pitching and yawing shuttle much like old earth cowboys bucked broncos." Rangi did not seem amused at the thought. As the sound of phaser rifle fire seemed to echo louder in the shuttle she motioned back to where everyone else was seated. "Well what about the aliens? Surely they might try to stop you. Why don't you take the device Mercedes..." Keylor interrupted her and shook his head no. "No I want that to make it back to the ship." He lowered his voice a bit. "If the aliens are modifying a torpedo, we will need to come back here. That dice might give the next away team a chance at evading the aliens. They will need it more than I will. Anyway, I will only be out there for a minute or so." Keylor then called back to the pilot, Once the shuttle is sealed, signal me and I will open the doors. Try to keep her slow so I can climb on board as you pass." He started to turn and then looked back, "Oh and try not to run over me." He said bluntly. Rangi started to say something but Keylor passed by her quickly. He interrupted her again, "Doctor now is not the time to argue. Right now you need to make sure these people all get back to the ship. " He did not wait for a response, he quickly exited the shuttle. As Keylor walked quickly to the manual controls of the shuttle bay doors, he called out to Jason, "Fall back to the shuttle and closed the door!" he yelled walking quickly. He did not hear a response, but did not give a second thought about it. He knew Jason was a trained marine and would follow orders. Once Keylor reached the controls, he glanced back to the shuttle, he saw Jason still firing as a marine climbed in to the shuttle. Keylor placed the helmet on his head and sealed it. He gave his suit controls a quick check. Once seeing the all green on his suit, he looked up at the shuttle. Jason was no longer in sight, but the ghastly glow of aliens was still there. He waited impatiently for the signal form the lieutenant. Finally after seeing Jason's Face appear in the co-pilots seat , the Lieutenant waved at Keylor. He tapped on his anti-gravity boot controls. His feet, now aching with every step, suddenly felt heavier as the magnetism 'clompted' the boots to the shuttle bay floor. He then turned, gripped a support beam in the wall and tapped on the control pad to the doors. With an instant, Keylor felt his body being pulled at in the middle. He gripped the beam with one hand tightly, his feet glued firmly to the floor. He watched as every little loose object in the bay began to rush out in to space. Keylor peered out in to space and could barely make out the pitch black darkness that had become his home. Keylor looked back at the shuttle. By now it was just barely above the shuttle bay floor, aliens quickly approaching it. He waved for the lieutenant to move the shuttle out quickly. He watched as the shuttle bobbed and jiggled about, banging into the floor of the shuttle bay. He could see the heads of the pilot and Jason jar every time the shuttle made contact with the floor. It soon became apparent to Keylor that this runabout bronco was going to be a bigger challenge to mount than he anticipated. Finally the shuttle banged its way to the opening of the bay, aliens now appearing to have regrouped and making a quick assault on the fleeing humans. Keylor searched franticly as the shuttle seemed to pick up speed as it passed. He was looking for some kind of handhold, some thing to grab on to escape their eerie prison they had come to despise. There he saw it, near the rear of the shuttle. He slowly took a few steps forward, preparing himself to lung out and grab his life line away form his place. Time seemed to slow for Keylor and speed up for the aliens, but his salvation was now close at hand. He was about1.5 meters from the bay walls and a meter form the shuttle. Normally this was a stunt he would not approve of under normal conditions, but then again, this was anything but a normal condition, they were trying to flee for their lives and the lives of the rescued researchers. As the handhold quickly approached, Keylor lunged out and gripped it. He felt his body twist as he struggled to hold on to the shuttle. The shuttle suddenly jerked to the right, bouncing off of the shuttle bay doors. Keylor lost his grip and his feet quickly stuck to the shuttle bay floor on the edge of the door opening. Keylor wobbled a bit as he regained his balance form his short ride. He had been thrown by his bronco and was now seeing it float away in to free space. Not even wanting to look back at the advancing aliens, Keylor reacted. He planted his feet at the very edge of the opening and bent his knees as if preparing to jump. He then placed his hands at his side and hoped his little stunt would work. In almost perfect unison he sprang forward out in to space and de-activated his boot. Keylor shot away from the station at a snails pace. He hoped he would have enough momentum to clear the event horizon. Then once clear, he hopes the lieutenant, Dr summers and the rest would realize he was not on the hull of the shuttle and find him before his air ran out. Keylor twisted his body so it appeared he was floating on his back. He looked back in to the shuttle bay to see the aliens motionless at the edge of the door. Now all eh could do was wait for some one to pick him up. ===End Log=== Col Bretam Keylor Captain USS Chimera