Answers, Please

Posted on 19 Jul 2020 @ 9:03pm by Lieutenant Alexandra Dering & Lieutenant Callisi Veera

2,486 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Ab Intra
Location: Primary Engineering
Timeline: MD 1 || 12:30 Hours

Whatever was going on on the ship, Callisi figured out pretty quickly that while she didn't have any of the details, she was something of a vital player. Either that, or a contested resource between two ideologies. Set the variance and keep it. Change the variance and keep it. Discuss and review. Sit and wait. Keep to the plan. Change with the wind.

As a member of the Operations section, she was used to the plan changing. What she wasn't used to was the plan changing out from under her. She needed answers. There was an electrical storm. There was an away team down on the planet with the electrical storm. The deflector array posed an integral part of the mission, either to recover the team or enable them to do whatever was going on down there. The more she thought about it, the more that tiny little pulsing thrum of irritation behind her eye grew. The more she sought an answer, the more it hurt. As though to dissuade her from investigating, almost.

She didn't like that she was rendered comatose through actions involving some degree of a slingshot calculation. She had so many holes in her memory, and the one person she would hope that could help her solve anything... her section chief... was proved in their first meeting to be borderline unreliable. Every step towards the turbolift felt heavier, felt forced. She stopped halfway to the lift to get her bearings, to gather her wits. What was she going to do, and what she was going to ask. A full minute passed with her leaning against the wall with her hand to her left temple, or what would be her temple if she had the same cranial architecture as a human. She took the next few steps with renewed vigor, and requested the deck for Engineering with a purpose in her tone.

Her foot was thumping against the floor in impatience before the trip through the ship was even half over. Every shift, every nudge... they say you don't feel it with the dampeners, but Federation dampeners were garbage. What she'd give for just twelve minutes back on a proper starship. With proper flooring. Proper officers. Proper everything. Maybe even proper medical attention for this thrice damned ...

Ding.

Shoving her anxiety down for the moment, Callisi exited the turbolift and made her way to Engineering proper. She'd find the first Engineer, be they crew hand or officer, and rather than search stem to stern, she'd simply ask... "Do you know where I can find the Engineering section chief?"

The Ensign she stopped looked confused for a moment. Who was this person? He'd never seen her before. But after the brief confusion, he smiled. "She's in her office, ma'am," he said crisply. The lieutenant looked as if she was in pain, so he asked politely, "Are you all right, ma'am?"

She appreciated the ensign's concern, and the directness of his reply. No wishy washy commentary. No indecipherable timeline questions, and his question to her had a definite answer. Clear, concise, and direct. She could fall in love with a question like that right now.

"Just an irritation, though Sickbay is my next stop." a pause, "I appreciate your concern." and she offered him a nod before she continued on her way. Junction, junction, junction, table, panel, panel... office. Regardless of the open door policy the section chief may have had with their subordinates, she was from a different section altogether. Was only polite, therefore, to indicate her intent with the door chime.

Lexi knew there was work to be done. They needed to begin the work to build the plan they had decided upon. No, that was wrong, to carry out the plan, not build it. But this was why she had taken a few minutes to try to get her shit together. What she wouldn't have given to feel Cole's arms around her, his reassuring presence letting her know that everything would be all right, even if it wouldn't. But he was not here, and she had to pull herself together. One of the team had to hold it together.

The door chime interrupted her thoughts, screeching like a totally deranged parakeet, and she ground her teeth for a second, not responding to it immediately. After a moment to clear her head as much as she could, she called, "Enter!"

The door swished open, and bid the rabbitess entry. She walked in quickly to allow the door to close quickly behind her. She paused for a moment to take a breath, gather herself up...

"First, greetings. I only recently woke from what I was told was a comatose state, and I'm trying to piece things together as best I can. I'm sorry if some of what I'm going to say is something you already know, but I'm having issue with putting the pieces together." she let go of the breath she was holding.

"My name is Callisi. I'm part of the Operations section. My section chief indicated something of a project involving an electrical storm, the deflector array, and a transporter pattern enhancer." she paused, "The end of our conversation trailed off, as though she lost the focus of the moment before she left my bed in Medical." setting the stage. Callisi had to pause in her recount to just close her good eye and count down for a moment.

"Apologies, I'm still not fully recovered it would seem. The reason I'm here is perhaps a bit of clarity. If I could take a moment of your time, to just get a clear idea as to what the current situation is that I woke up seemingly in the middle of."

Clarity? Lexi almost laughed, almost. Clarity was something she always strived to have, but it was being slowly dragged from her tiny bit by tiny bit, and that made her very uncomfortable at the least. She didn't laugh though because she understood the desire for such clarity. She would want it herself. Hell, she had been here the whole time, and she still felt a little fuzzy on some of the details. She suspected that was to do with the fog her mind had been slowly being eaten by.

And the voice.

"I'll give you what I can, but I'm not sure that's a lot," she said, motioning to a chair across the desk from her.

~That's right, Dering,~ the voice taunted in her mind. ~Delay. Rest. You need it, after all, and you deserve it. You've been working so hard since you got here.~

She pushed it aside with a frown and a bit of effort. Focus. Stay in the Here and Now. The crew needed her. "I'm getting a coffee. You want anything?" she asked, giving herself something to do so that it would be less obvious that she was holding on by sheer will.

The rabbitess visibly relaxed, and started her reply in her native tongue before switching back to Federation standard, "Any clarity at all would be appreciated." at the drink offer, Callisi gave a nod "Black tea, please." she requested. Coffee was something she hadn't quite gotten a taste for yet, and the tea that the Federation had was a far cry from what she'd consider as ... good. But it was a welcome distraction. "Nothing added, thank you." always remember your manners. At the section chief's offer of a seat, the rabbitess gladly sat. It felt like forever since she actually sat, nevermind that it wasn't more than twelve hours ago she was in a bed.

Lexi nodded, ordering the tea and her own black coffee from the Replicator. She was glad that she was turned away from the other female as her head began to ache again, and she closed her eyes tightly against the pain, forcing her mind to refocus on the task at hand. Drinks. Yes, that was the task. She opened her eyes and took the cups from the Replicator, handing the tea to the lady who looked very much like a real-life anime rabbit to her. That realization almost made her laugh, but she swallowed it along with a sip of the coffee.

The strong flavor of the coffee hit her tongue and brought her back to ground, at least for a moment. "Well, I'm a little fuzzy on the why, but we have an Away Team on the planet. There is a massive storm screwing with our sensors and communications, and we're trying to construct a way to pierce that so we can talk to the Away Team." That was it, right? Yes, it sounded right.

Why the hell can't I focus? I slept well last night. I have never had trouble focusing on my job before!

~You've been hard at it for too long. You just need to rest. Relax. Let go. the voice coaxed, but she refused to relax and 'let go' as long as she was needed to help her crew!

"Lieutenant Sabine, myself, Petty Officer Pasgen, and..." she paused with a frown. There was someone else... wasn't there? "And someone else whose name I can't remember now," Good cover, Lexi. "came up with a plan that should, theoretically let us do that." She took another steadying sip of coffee. "What do you know so far?" Wait, hadn't the woman told her already? Fuck! "Sorry, I've been running ninety, going nowhere, for hours already." Another good cover.

~You know she's not buying that, right?~

~Shut the hell up! she snarled at the annoying voice in the back of her mind.

The very real, not a fabrication rabbit held the tea for a moment, feeling the warmth and enjoying it before taking a sip. "Perfect." she lied, but it was still good tea. The tea helped the pain behind her eye, but just to take the edge off. She excused the woman's lapse in memory, as she was suffering her own. "All I knew before now was that there was a storm, and the need to affect it with the deflector array, while using a beam from the array as a transporter pattern enhancer. I've been given two sets of shield variances to maintain, and things have just been frustrating beyond that, as you can imagine."

"Thank you for the clarity. It might not seem like much but it's welcome." she stated, before giving a bit of a wince and closing her one eye.

Lexi frowned. What the rabbit lady said didn't quite track, but it took her a minute to figure out why. "Actually," she corrected, maybe just a hair too strongly, "we're going to use the pattern enhancer to try and strengthen the signal so we can punch through the the storm." That was right, wasn't it?

"Another clarification after the fact." the rabbitess stated into her tea, a bit overly critical, "And I'm barely a part of it at this point. Alright, so..." sip tea, "I thank you for the clarification. It seems my section chief and I are due for a conversation once the current crisis has passed." which put a surprised look on her face. Why was she being so critical of a superior officer. No, not superior. Just higher ranked. The rabbitess closed her eye, tightly, and let the thing she hated most in this world take over for a little bit. A dim light under her eyepatch trailed up, to point at Lexi's direction.

"Was there anything else she got wrong?"

Lexi frowned, not sure she liked this. Her words were going to be used against another department head? But what this woman did with them was not Lexi's business, right? "That was all I noticed in what you said to me," she answered carefully. And... what was the deal with the eyepatch? None of your business, Lexi. Don't get distracted. she counseled herself.

~Curiosity isn't a bad thing. Just let it flow.~ the voice coaxed.

It was becoming more and more irritating and intrusive. She wanted to scream 'Shut the hell up!' but held back. It seemed that no one else heard it. Great, I'm going insane! Just perfect!

"Did she say anything else that you feel the need to clarify?" she asked aloud, sipping her coffee to cover her momentary lapse.

Callisi gave a slow nod. To an outside observer, it could have been a nod that didn't trust. That didn't believe. To Callisi, though, a slow nod was all she could manage without asking for something to jam into her optic to quell the pain building there. Sickbay was her next stop, and it couldn't happen soon enough for the Daughter of Ts'usu.

"No, I think this is all the clarity I need. Everything else will be clarity after the fact, a point that she made quite clear would be the standard of our department. I thank you for your time." a sip of her tea, but even the warmth and comfort of something familiar like tea offered no reprieve. She had to get out.

"I won't take up more of your time. Thank you again." and she made to stand.

Lexi frowned. The rabbit lady was rather abrupt and seemed completely untrusting of her, but whatever. Lexi had a job to do. Whether or not the Operations lady trusted her was not relevant just now. What was relevant was that they needed to get this shit done so that they could contact the Away Team. She nodded. "Sure, no problem." She finished her coffee and stood herself, moving to the replicator to refill the mug. "We may need an Ops officer at some point during this mess. So if you're available, we may call you. Hope that's okay." She couldn't be sure the woman heard her since the other had been leaving. But then, with ears that long, she suspected the rabbit lady heard a lot more than people thought she did. To the replicator, she said, "Coffee, black in an insulated travel mug."

Callisi offered a soft smile, "Of course. Call upon me if you need me." she offered, slowing her exodus to at least finish the conversation. Those lengthy ears of her were, indeed, more than just for show. For the first time in a while, Callisi felt at ease. Felt appreciated in her task. It was a fantastic feeling. It was... oh, there that pulse of pain was again. "If you'll excuse me, I should visit sickbay to see about something. I won't take up more of your time."

Lexi smiled. "Thank you," she called after Callisi. Maybe they would get through this after all, she thought as the Replicator dispensed her request and she removed it from the plate. Now to get the others and get to work.

 

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