This section came about due to the great suggestions of including the 'alien' point of view in the Siliconate War thread.
Rama Toulon stiffened as he always did just prior to each wormhole transit. As always he was amazed that he became so nervous, after so many transits it was foolish. Slowly he forced himself to relax. Around him the other engineering staff moved to their transit seating. Rama?s mind went back to his dream briefly, it was always the same and was the reason he was so nervous about transits. He had avoided mentioning it to anyone; after all it wasn?t proper.
The dream was always the same, everything would seem normal at first and then the ship would buckle and twist around him, the hull would crack and for a moment he would feel the cold of space, then he would wake in a pool of sweat. He had it again last night, but then he had known they would transit today. It was foolish, the navy had never lost a ship to transit effects, so why would they now?
Rama looked around the small engineering compartment of the frigate and saw everyone was ready. Lt. Mike Haskins nodded to him, ?is everything ready?? The nod asked. Rama swept his eyes one last time over his panel and nodded back.
?Engineering ready for transit sir.? Haskins said into the small mike.
For a short while the ship seemed quiet, then Rama heard the engine note change as the ship got underway. He watched the panel concentrating on his job, everything was normal. Suddenly he felt the jump engine activate and almost immediately afterwards the wormhole effect. It was the same as always, one moment he was setting in his seat the next he seemed to be all over engineering at once. The panel in front of him suddenly lost power and the lights flickered out. Everything was as it should be. As soon as it started the feeling of being everywhere at once stopped, and it then ceased to be normal.
All hell suddenly broke loose, Rama was aware of three things at once. First a noise, like the ship being hit in a thousand places at once with a huge hammer. Second the sound of metal rupturing behind him and third a huge sense of deja vous. It was his dream; this time he was sure it wouldn?t kill him though, or at least he hoped it wouldn?t.
A quick look behind confirmed the hull was indeed breaching. Rama hit the emergency hull seal button on his panel as hard as possible and held on to his seat. Time seemed to slow. In slow motion Rama watched as Lt. Haskins and three crewmen in engineering where pulled from their transit seating and flew through the air towards the gap that was appearing in the hull. At the same instant sealing foam was fired from the ceiling at the other wall of engineering. Slowly Haskins and the foam raced each other towards the gap. Rama swiveled his seat and with his free hand made a grab for Lt. Haskins, but the distance was too far. He watched in horror as the Lt. was sucked through the hole first, then a moment later the foam sealed the breach, it was too late to be any help for the head of engineering.
Rama was stunned briefly and took the time to assess the rest of the engineering crew. As Engineering Second in Command these were now his men. They all looked shaken but apart from Crewman Johnson who was holding his arm no one seemed hurt. ?How?s your arm Johnson?? Rama asked the wounded crewman. He was surprised how calm he felt.
?I think it's broken sir. I hit it on the console when the hull breached.? Johnson answered, sounding anything but calm.
?Report to the medical bay. The rest of you let?s find out what?s working and what isn?t.? The crew began to move back to their stations and Rama turned back to face his console. The panel showed the shields were up though only one of the engines was active. Worryingly one of the two fusion reactors wasn?t looking too healthy either.
?Hank shut down reactor two, the rest of you try to get the engines back online.? He said and continued to scan the panel.
The ship was stationary and seemed to lack any inclination to move. Rama didn?t like the idea of sitting on top of the wormhole. He was about to contact the bridge when he heard Lt. Haskins? console pinging to indicate an incoming message.
Rama crossed the small room to Mike?s console, somehow it felt wrong to touch it with the man dead, but he was in charge now and someone would want a report. He pressed the switch to activate the comm link and Commodore Schneider?s face appeared. His face was streaked with blood and he had a cut just above his left eye. ?Where is Lieutenant Haskins?? He asked, but Rama could see from his eyes that he already knew.
?Sir, Lieutenant Haskins is dead, he was sucked out of the ship by a hull breach. I am his second in command, Lieutenant JG Rama Toulon.?
?That?s a shame, he was a good engineer. Speaking of which how are our??
Some sort of explosion suddenly hit the ship. It felt like there had been an explosion somewhere off the frigates stern. Rama was thrown off his feet and struck his head on the edge of the console as he fell. Then the lights went out and the comm screen went dead.
With his head throbbing Rama regained his feet. ?The reactors are off line Lt, I?m switching to emergency batteries.? A voice said.
For a moment Rama didn?t recognize it. Then he realized it was crewman Hank Gutterman. He felt groggy and shook his head to try and clear it. He suddenly realized that was a bad idea as he stumbled and the floor came up to meet him.