"May day may day, we are going down I repeat we are going down!" A panicked voice screamed over the radio. Andy climbed up the flooded lower engine room ladder slamming the hatch shut behind her, her blue overalls covered in grease and water. She ran along the shin deep water corridors being the one of the last to reach one of the compartment doors, she just managed to slip through but saw two other engineers towards the back of the flooding corridor. "Move move move!" Andy shouted down to them, in a frantic bid to hold the door open she wedged a fallen pipe in place. The two engineers slipped through just in time but as the last slither of the door closed about 5 others came bolting down the corridor edge. All the compartment doors were shut, locked and sealed water tight, those that didn't make it through? There fate was to go down with the ship. Andy made it to the deck where she was left no choice but to jump into the sea as the life boat compartments were underwater by now.
Andy bolted up from her trance at the dinner table. She couldn't even remember what had caused the flashback. Oh wait it was someone from D-shift talking about how his grandfather's row boat had sunk in the storm the weekend before. "Andy you okay there?" Maya asked noticing her friends distress, "Yeah, yeah bad memories thats all," "From a sinking row boat?" "Did I ever tell you I served?" "I don't recall you mentioning it so no," Vic added leaning further onto the table, "Excuse me." Just like that she walked out of the beanery trying to console herself.
Without thinking she walked straight up to the chief's bunk. She walked right in, Robert new it was her as everyone else would knock, "Hey Andy you okay?" "Had another flashback," she only told him what was going on inside her head as only he would understand. Maya was an olympian not a veteran and would only know sympathy, after her ship went down her mind screwed itself over. She would push and push herself worse than Maya does, unlike Maya it never showed. A little tough love and aggressive humour exchanged between matleos was her kind of medicine. "Are you ever gonna tell anyone what happened?" She shrugged sitting on the floor next to Robert, "Andy what really happened?"
Almost five years before
"Kris what are you doing?" Andy asked, looking up from the water valve to Kris poorly pole dancing on the support beam, "Come on Herrera let the man have his fun," "I just asked what the hell he was doing, are you gonna help me with this valve or not?" "Why what's the problem?" The three engineers Kris, Jack and Ben jumped down to where she was working on. Though Kris was filming them for whatever reason, "The valve won't seal on its own and if you leave it it'll open and flood," "Okay looks like its the circuit. Get the pumps going and radio bridge for an all stop," Andy connected the water pumps before finishing her radio out of the shallow water, "Herrera to bridge, Herrera to bridge come in over," "Bridge here," "We need all stop, valves blown we need to open them to reconnect the wires," "Granted, all stop."
The engines in the other room cranked to a halt giving them the go ahead to open the valve. A loud bang then gushes of water rocked the three back, Kris dropped the camera he was filming with. "What the hell was that?" Jack yelled, Kris picked his camera up following Andy and Jack. "Bridge to engineering what the hell was that?" "I don't know yet," she clipped her radio to her belt and took her camera back from Kris.
Her and other engineers raced to the ships stern to be met with rapid water in take. "Seal the valves cut off that compartment, make sure everyone is out!" Andy yelled camera still running. The ship was sinking...
"Andy you zoned out again, what did you remember?" "We filmed it, we were stupid enough to leave the camera playing," "Andy taken your meds? PTSD is nothing to be ashamed of," "I left them in my locker, see you later," "Andy!" Robert yelled after her but she was gone.
Herrera raced through the locker room and potentially ripped her locker open. Her mind was whirling in circles trying to make sense of what she was remembering. Before she knew it she was back in the kitchen filling up a glass. Swallowing the two tiny pills, she was gripping the sides to remain steady. "Herrera you okay over there?" Jack called, "She'll tell us when she's ready Jack," "You drowned," "He's right here Andy?" "He drowned as did Ben, Kris and all the others. I did nothing, I sealed there fate. Why was it only me why couldn't the others have survived to?" "Chief!" Maya yelled, "Why are you calling him?" "He said he was there he knows what happened and to call him if she acts peculiar," "Bishop what is-Andy it's not your fault you just got lucky," "Only survivor yeah right, don't call that lucky I would have rather gone down with them if that meant we could be family forever," "Don't talk like that do you think that Discovery would ever forgive you if you did that after we freezes our buts off saving you lot. Did I ever tell you that you weren't the only one?" "No don't think so," "Okay good we pulled the bodies for the water it was horrific you and another engineer were still alive but you both were all over the place. We got you stable and you slowly came back from the world of the dead the other survivor wasn't so lucky once he practically thawed he was brain dead," "What did you end up doing?" "He wasn't connected to anything keeping him alive his brain just couldn't tell his heart to stop beating," "Please what happened to him," "Not in a public space," "Bobby please!" "We killed him rat poison, we thought it would be a painless way to go out rather than throwing him over board to drown."
"Who was it?" "Andy it's best," "Tell me!" She yelled, "Kris, Kris Gamblin," her face fell knowing it is the same Kris as hers, "You killed my best friend! Stay away from me!" That was it a slip of the tongue ruined years of trust and friendship, "Andy," "So much for calming her down," Maya chuckled along with the rest of 19, "Maya this is serious this is Andy's 3rd strike, you don't get it three strikes and she goes back. Andy wait!" "Go back where..."
Robert eventually got Andy to calm down but they both knew she was walking on thin ice.
A letter came inviting her on a salvage mission to her ship. The mission is to raise items from USS Defiant and as Andy was the only survivor they want her there. That and she was a fully qualified diver and submarine operative so she technically doing the diving. The dive was to fall over Christmas day, the day Defiant went down.
"Cap can I get three weeks off from the 14th of December to January 2nd, I was asked to go as a diver," Ben scoffed, "Typical Andy, missing Christmas," 19 started laughing as it was true, in the four years they had known each other she had never once celebrated Christmas, "Wanna know the truth? Five years ago this Christmas we anchored of the shipping lanes to have a whole ship Christmas morning, real turkey, crap karaoke just overall having a blast then 1 o'clock came and it was just a normal afternoon I couldn't get a stupid valve to seal. 2 o'clock we were hit in the stern and we started taking on water faster than we could pump it out. 2:30 the life boats were under water and the ship was capsizing. 200 were trapped below deck, 300 were killed when Defiant capsized, 100 drowned in the choppy sea and 199 froze to death in the water. I was the only survivor of 800 all on Christmas Day, I wasn't pulled from the water until sunrise Boxing Day I still can't feel four of my toes, Bobby's ship got me out. I want the three weeks to go on a salvage mission, the salvage mission to retrieve artifacts who better to send then someone who knows every nut and bolt."
A memory overwhelmed her, consuming her mind. Andy raced through the winding corridors shutting down all the circuit breakers on the way the last thing they needed was electrically charged water. The cries for help of the crew trapped below deck made her chest tighten. A couple of the officers were in there finest scrubs drinking scotch on the bridge. They offered Andy a glass which she chugged as they wished her best chance in life.
Her and Kris made it to the flight deck as another wave thrashed over the ship sweeping crew members overboard. Defiant began to rock violently in the wake of the choppy sea. Taking a literal leap of faith she leapt overboard to paddle to a chunk of wooden panelling. Climbing onto it she prepared to wait for the rescue ship coming. The waters calmed the ear piercing screams became a distant memory as Defiant disappeared below the crystal water. The last golden rays crept under the underneath the horizon. Glittering stars seemed closer than ever in the deep black around them. The night drifted by, with each fading star hope faded from the few other survivors remaining in the cold water.
Dawn broke from the distant horizon revealing the silhouette of there saviour ship, USS Inspector. Once they were close enough Andy thumbled in her pocket for her whistle. After a few moments a warm pair of hands gripped Andy's shoulders as she was lifted onto the flight deck. Blankets were wrapped round her shoulders as the tall man next to her guided her through the crew. His name was Robert.
"Andy you okay?" "Yeah nothing Bobby thanks for pulling me out," "Your welcome asqueroso (Disgusting)," "Your so on!" She yelled rocketing after him. Two weeks later Andy was boarding USS Summer for the three week mission with nothing but ocean ahead.
Andy watched the port fade from view from the ships stern, she missed the sea spray, the rockiness of the waves, the gulls cry. She missed this. "Herrera on bridge!" She climbed the decks of the bridge, "As you may know Herrera here is USS Defiant's only survivor so please be respectful. Our mission is to retrieve personal artefacts of the crew as well as any loose bits of debris. Andy it would be amazing if you identified who they belonged to, we arrive at the wreck in 4 days and Andy get uncomfortable or upset step back we can't afford to loose you from our team." They nodded before going through the team's objective for the mission. They were to retrieve items from the debris field and from inside the hull itself Andy was to operate the sub going down.
Less than a few hours after arrival they prepared for the descent into the crystal clear depths and to Defiant's watery grave. At 8am the following morning Andy and her three man team dove for the first of hopefully ten dives this mission down the the wreck. In five years it hadn't changed much, debris was surrounding the beaten hull a lot of the items Andy recognised and retrieved. One of the things that showed huge interest was A footlocker, they were water tight and it was fully intact and shut. That was placed gently into there rack of retrieved items including: ship parts, plates left over from the Christmas meal. They were at rest with the world down here.
When they came topside it was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.