The Styx had risen several thousand meters above SPROC by the time Colonel Snavely relented and hailed the Tycho. Every maneuver he had attempted to break free of the graviton beam only resulted in the Styx pointing downward toward the planet with the stern, containing the dilithium crystal cargo, pulling the ship upward along the path of the beam. Snavely was using nearly half of the Styx' impulse power just to slow the rise. But this was causing a severe vibration of the dilithium load which threatened to break free of its hold-downs. And the Styx was still accelerating upward.
Ted and Snavely regarded each other silently for a moment on their respective viewscreens. "We've been monitoring your progress, Colonel," Ted began. "At your present rate, you will soon pass our orbit level. And according to our chief engineer, you will probably pass into warp speeds before you even clear the system."
Snavely replied with heavy sarcasm. "No doubt it would be the first time any ship ever did it ass-backwards!" He took a deep breath. "As you can see, Captain, we are trying to break free of this damn... cosmic TRACTOR beam we seem to be caught up in! Major Snodgrass here thinks you science people may be able to help."
"Colonel, I can only tell you that the 'tractor' beam you're caught up in is one of intense gravitonic radiation that is keenly attuned to dilithium crystals." Ted paused as he stared at Snavely with an arched eyebrow. "And that large load of dilithium you are carrying is locked tight into that beam!"
Snavely's left eye slammed shut. "What are you talking about?! How could you possibly..."
Ted cut him off. "Save it, Colonel! Everyone knows about your mining operation! The only thing you should be concerned with now is getting off the Styx alive!"
Snavely glared at Ted with one eye for a moment before deciding to adopt a different tone. He glanced at Snodgrass then continued in a calmer voice. "It was our full intention to present the Federation with this... jackpot of dilithium, Captain."
Lt. Cunning stifled a snort of derision and shot a sidewise smirk at Ted while shaking his head.
The snake-oil salesman aspect of Snavely's character was emerging. "Just think of it, Captain! Nearly a ton of highly refined dilithium crystals ready for immediate use in any warp engine! Starfleet could possess the largest armada in existence in a few short years!"
Ted sighed sadly. "Your proposed... 'GIFT' is moot at this point, Colonel, because it is untouchable inside a graviton beam stronger than any I've ever experienced or read about!"
Snodgrass interjected. "I can believe that. The readings inside mineshaft number 3 were jumping off the scale when we lost six people there!"
Snavely shot an annoyed look at Snodgrass. "Well, so what?! The planet is going through a fit of seismic instability right now. I imagine there would be a lot of unusual readings during such a period!"
Ted shook his head and glared at Snavely. "Pandoria isn't just going through a 'seismic fit', Colonel. It's being squeezed in two! We calculate that in a matter of hours Pandoria will become an asteroid belt with two large sized planetoids!"
Both Snavely and Snodgrass popped their eyes and dropped their jaws. After a moment Snavely sputtered, "Bu..bu..but how is that possible?!!"
Ted responded grimly. "It's just a theory at this point... but one which will shortly be proven or disproven. The Tycho team believes that your dilithium mining operation has triggered the 'hatching' of a young crystalline entity!"
Lt. Commander Stinnik and his commcenter staff were approaching the airlock doors to the docking bay area when yet another emergency alarm added its clanging to the overall din of quake rumbles.
"DOME BREACH!"
The two rising crystal columns from mineshafts 1 and 2 near the western edge had proved stronger than the duranium reinforced plastene climate dome. Two large cracks had formed close to the two columns and were now openly splitting as the widening crystal masses surged upwards. The air inside the dome rushed through the splits with increasing gale force into the the thin, alien atmosphere of Pandoria. SPROC's air generators were straining to keep up with the sudden demand.
Pandemonium reigned inside the triangle formed by the three mineshafts. Energy tendrils from all three crystal columns had completely enclosed the area and were steadily advancing on human prey inside. A few junior officers were desperately firing at the tendrils with their hand phasers and occasionally scoring shattering hits. However, the tendrils had evidently learned from past firing encounters with the humans. The tendrils now bobbed and weaved whenever an officer took a firing stance and most of their phaser bolts missed. The escalating panic in the crowd did nothing to improve their aim. The uneven circle of running people steadily diminished as tendrils picked off their targets around the edges. The perimeter was littered with spotlessly cleaned empty uniforms and footwear.
On the western edge two officers firing their phasers in concert managed to shatter four tendrils, temporarily creating an opening in the ring of wriggling, squeeling deathworms. The officers and a couple of other staffers darted through but found themselves running toward the edge of the climate dome. On either side the rising columns from mineshafts 1 and 2 were widening the splits in the dome. Hurricane force winds were developing, sucking debris and empty uniforms through the breaches.
Mineshaft 1 was situated closest to the dome and seemed to offer the least room to maneuver around the crystal column there. So the four 'escapees' headed toward the area between mineshaft 2 and the dome wall. They had only run a few meters before the rising winds and flying debris caused them to stumble and fall. They struggled to their feet and continued more slowly, clinging to each other for support.
As they neared the remains of mineshaft 2, they were confronted by a newly generated tendril. The officers immediately began firing but were greatly hampered by the strong wind and trembling ground. The tendril seemed to have no trouble avoiding their bolts. The two officers advanced slowly toward the tendril with staggered fire; trying to keep it at bay. The two staffers were edging behind the officers when a pair of empty pants suddenly blew into the face of one officer, knocking him off his feet. He lost his grip on his phaser which sailed away in the wind. The other officer instinctively turned to help his friend and the tendril zipped forward and attached itself to the standing officer's head. His face wrinkled up like a rotted apple and disappeared, soon followed by the rest of his body.
The first officer had snatched the garment from his face in time to see what was happening to his colleague. He scrambled to his feet and began running after the other two staffers in a blind panic toward the rear of the column. They didn't get far before the wind took control of their flight and sucked them toward the plastene dome split. The two staffers tumbled like rag dolls and were whisked through the breach; their screams drowned out by the howling gale. They were still conscious when they were deposited on the rocky surface of Pandoria outside the dome. They had used up their last breathable breath with their screams. As their lungs reflexively expanded trying to take in the acrid thinness of Pandoria's atmosphere, their eyes bulged from the unequal pressure inside their bodies. One staffer managed to stagger to his feet and take a couple of steps back toward the dome that had spit him out before he collapsed in final asphyxiation.
The officer following those two was a strong young man. As he was being blown through the split, he grabbed the edge of the plastene with both hands and clung there for several moments, doggedly hanging on for dear life. It is unknown for how long he may have been able to maintain his hold because a large piece of canopy roofing from mineshaft 2 was suddenly torn free by the winds. As it whipped through the dome split, a sharpened edge caught the officer at both arms near the shoulders, cleanly severing them. The hapless, armless officer soon joined the two staffers in a gasping demise. In macabre tribute to his strength, the two bodiless appendages held onto the plastene edge in a deathgrip for a few minutes before being torn loose.
Two Andorian shuttlecraft from the Kallindor II were maneuvering for landings inside SPROC's docking area when the dome breach occured. This registered on the sensors of all the ships in orbit above SPROC. Captain Slee'tog radioed the shuttle pilots.
"The climate dome is in imminent danger of collapse and the entire planet is becoming increasingly unstable. Conduct your personnel retrievals as quickly as possible. Even orbital distance won't be safe when the planet flies apart!"
Inside the docking bay airlock the few docking area crew were fitting the commcenter staff with air helmets so they could make the brief walk through Pandorian atmosphere to the shuttlecrafts in the open bay area. The problem was there weren't enough air helmets to go around. SPROC had kept a stock of twenty helmets on hand, which was usually more than enough for normal docking bay operations. But there were thirty two people, including the docking bay personnel, that needed immediate evacuation.
Commander Stinnik made a quick decision. He pointed to two of the bay personnel. "You two will wear helmets and accompany eighteen of these people to the shuttles. Once inside, collect six of their helmets apiece and bring them back to the airlock for the rest of us. I will go with the last group."
The plan proceeded well at first as 20 helmeted staff made their way gingerly across the shaking bay floor to the closest shuttle. As soon as 18 were strapped into makeshift seats in the shuttle's cargo hold, the two designated bay personnel gathered up six helmets each and departed the shuttle heading back for the airlock. The first shuttle engaged its impulse engines and swiftly rose out of the docking area and headed back to orbit.
That's when the two splits on the west edge of the climate dome suddenly expanded and merged in a huge crack going nearly to the top. A large, curved, triangular slice of the plastene dome, propelled by the high air pressure inside, popped free and fell thunderously onto the rocky ground nearby. The three crystal columns had grown beyond the height of the dome and protruded through the ragged breach. The few remaining SPROC staffers that had not yet been absorbed by the energy tendrils were also blown out onto the Pandorian terrain to suffer poisonous asphixiation. It is hard to say which death was preferable.
The Styx had soared past the other ships in orbit at several thousand kilometers per hour -- backwards. At Ted's urging, Snavely had ceased trying to use his impulse engines to reverse his flight for fear the dilithium cargo would tear through the hull. The Tycho and one of the Andorian cruisers were keeping pace with the Styx at a distance of approximately one hundred kilometers from the graviton beam. Tycho and the Styx maintained open communication.
"Colonel, your rate of acceleration indicates the Styx will enter warp speed not very far past the orbit of Andoria... which may occur in less than an hour!" Ted shifted his weight and continued. "As you know, transporting personnel at warp speeds can be difficult. And doing so through a graviton beam could be problematic indeed! So the sooner we get you and Major Snodgress off the Styx -- the better!"
Snavely was having a hard time giving up his 'prize'.
"Couldn't you and the cruiser use both of your tractor beams to pull the Styx away from this damn graviton field?! After all, it's just another form of radiation isn't it?"
Ted sighed. "It isn't a "field", Colonel. It's a rather narrowly focused BEAM... unlike any we've ever encountered! Furthermore, it seems directly aimed at a mysterious spatial anomaly at the edge of this system; perhaps some kind of wormhole!" Ted allowed a hint of sarcasm into his tone. "The Tycho was on its way to study this anomaly when your little 'mining' problem got everyone's attention!"
Major Snodgrass was tired of deferring to his superior. "Well, I, for one, don't want to get sucked into any wormhole! You can beam me over to the Tycho whenever you're ready!"
Snavely and Snodgrass glared at each other for a long moment. Then Snavely checked his instrument panel. The Styx' velocity was at one quarter warp speed and rising. Snavely bowed his head slightly and said quietly: "Very well, Leon. I suppose there is no other option."
Quake activity increased sharply with the breaking of the climate dome. The epicenter was at the western edge where a huge expanding mass of crystal was pushing through the surface of Pandoria. This was having a crumpling effect on the dome and the buildings within. The noise of quake rumbles and collapsing structures was deafening, but SPROC's alarm systems went silent as the power generators failed.
Inside the docking bay airlock on the eastern edge, Commander Stinnik was having great difficulty keeping his balance on the trembling floor. He stared in horror through the plastene window of the outer door as he watched the two returning bay personnel, laden with air helmets, lose their own balance and fall, scattering the vital helmets. As they attempted to get up, the increasing violence of the quake knocked them down again. Stinnik realized their chances of retrieving the helmets was remote. He thought to himself: "Good Lord! This airlock chamber is going to be our coffin!"
Another sharp jolt killed the docking bay power grid and the lights went out. The eleven other staffers inside the airlock were near panic. One of them had a panicky idea. "Let's all take a deep breath and open the door and run grab ourselves an air helmet! Some of us might make it!"
A docking bay staffer gave a surly reply. "In case you ain't noticed, Einstein, we got no power! The door won't open smoothly!"
"Well, can't it be opened manually?"
"Yes it can! There's an emergency hand crank mechanism behind a wall panel. All it takes is about a minute of hard cranking to get the door open enough to squeeze through!" He paused for sarcastic emphasis. "But what are we gonna breathe while you're cranking?!"
The second cargo shuttle from Kallindor II had activated its engines and hovered a few feet above the bay floor to avoid the shaking. The Andorian pilot maneuvered closer to the fallen bay personnel with the thought of at least saving those two before fleeing the doomed planet. It was a noble, but fatal gesture.
A humongous rift cracked open beneath the entire length of SPROC as the expanding crystalline belt began emerging all around the planet. The docking bay control tower quivered and tilted precariously before collapsing onto the bay floor... crushing the shuttle in a tangle of twisted metal and shattered plastene.
Volcanos began forming and started erupting all around Pandoria's equater as the crystalline belt cracked open the planetary crust. Huge geysers of spouting magma in thousands of locations surged up on either side of the belt, which seemed unaffected by the molten rock. Indeed, the crystal surfaces leached minerals directly from the hot magma and generated more crystals; triggering an exponential increase in the entity's growth. With the planet's molten core to feed on, the entity grew inward much more rapidly than it had grown outward. In less than an hour, Pandoria was essentially bisected with both crumbling halves gravitationally clinging to the glowing crystal disc in its middle.
Pandoria's magnetosphere was totally disrupted by this transformation as was the normal force of gravity; producing a bewildering flux of physical and electric forces. Smaller masses around the edges of either hemisphere, depending on their their mineral content, might be drawn into the interior core... or electrostatically repelled away from the planet.
Such was the case of the SPROC airlock chamber. It was composed of strong, high density metal alloys and contained a goodly supply of oxygen canisters, necessary for the function of any airlock. When the Pandorian split occurred and SPROC was torn apart, electrostatic flux forces repelled most of the high density metal debris, including the airlock chamber.
Lt. Commander Stinnik and his eleven SPROC refugees found themselves floating away from the remains of Pandoria. The further they went, the quieter it became and the lighter they got. They had plenty of air to breathe... but it was getting cold!