By Ensigns Andraste and Cristiane
80224.20
After Against Her Better Judgment
"It is indeed impossible to imagine our own death; and whenever we attempt to do so we can perceive that we are in fact still present as spectators. Hence [...] no one believes in his own death, or, to put the same thing another way, that in the unconscious everyone of us is convinced of his own immortality." - Freud
= Brig of the Executor =
80224.20
After Against Her Better Judgment
"It is indeed impossible to imagine our own death; and whenever we attempt to do so we can perceive that we are in fact still present as spectators. Hence [...] no one believes in his own death, or, to put the same thing another way, that in the unconscious everyone of us is convinced of his own immortality." - Freud
= Brig of the Executor =
Ensign Nimue Andraste had never really believed in death. Certainly she knew people died. She had seen it happen. And the logical part of her – frail thing though it was according to her Vulcan friends – told her that she too would one day perish. The truth was, however, that despite all these things she was not convinced, in her heart of hearts, that she'd have to meet her maker. She never had been.
That is why the perilous heights of Stratos had never frightened her. That is why she could fly with reckless abandon and laugh with the purity of a newborn babe. This secret disbelief in her own mortality did at times make her a little reckless, but it also made her brave. It allowed her to take leaps of faith and love without the fear of being hurt. It let her pause and relish every moment in her life because she was certain that in the end there would be time enough for everything.
Nimue was not immortal. She only lived as if she were.
And so as the Executor began to die, with Nimue trapped in its brig and quite forgotten, she was concerned and she looked for a way out. But she was not truly frightened – for in her subconscious the young Ardanan/Betazoid was certain that she would be rescued by some form of serendipity.
Meanwhile, Nimue had already exhausted what little technical expertise she had trying to escape, and her strategy had devolved to the point where she was now simply tossing her boots at the force field holding her in, and watching them bounce back. Needless to say, that technique was proving quite ineffective.
"You know what," she informed the energy barrier with a scowl, "You're starting to piss me off. Let me go."
The force field, of course, remained unmoved by her threat.
"Fine," Nimue snapped as she gathered her boots so that she could chuck them at the uncooperative barrier yet again, "Be that way. See if I care."
"I cannot freaking believe she did this to me!" Dane was shouting to no one as he stomped through the deserted halls of the Executor. "Like I owe Vox anything. Like I owe anyone anything! Starfleet sucks!"
He put special emphasis on the last word, and, like the spoiled teenager that lived inside of him, Dane was so absorbed in himself and his own perceived dilemma that he walked right past the holding cell containing the person he was sent to release.
Nimue paused just as she was about to toss a boot at the force field in and tilted her head to one side. She was hearing things. Actually, she wasn't hearing things – there was someone out there. Someone who was just about as pissed off to be there as she was from the sound of it.
"Hey!" Nimue shouted, running up towards the exit of her cell while, at the same time, fumbling around trying to get her shoes on. "You. Hey! Back here. How about a little rescue? Damsel in distress here."
Dane backed up, and sighed with relief, hurrying toward her. He punched the security code into the panel controlling the field and it dropped. Instead of giving her any sort of explanation, he tossed a combadge at her.
Nimue, however, had not been anticipating that and the device clattered to the floor. She paused a moment to glare at Dane, and then bent down to pick it up. As soon as she had it on, Dane tapped his own communicator.
"Cristiane to Serendipity, two to beam up!"
Nothing happened.
"Serendipity, huh? Good name."
"Shit. This is not good." Dane replied. He hit the badge again. "Cristiane to the Sera! Get us out of here!"
Again, nothing.
"I don't mean to, you know, judge or anything," Andraste noted, "But your rescuing skills could use a little work."
Dane snarled at her, "Don't you ever shut up?"
"I'm just sayin'," she replied, holding her hands up slightly in surrender, "The radiation levels in here must be messing up the transporters. Or communications. Either way, we should probably try on another deck."
"Bridge." Dane barked, and he took off running toward it, leaving Nimue to follow on her own.
Nimue opened her mouth to argue but then decided the better of it. True, the bridge as probably not the destination closest to them but it was one of the most protected areas on any vessel. That made it a good place to go. Besides, she thought as she began to sprint after him, this guy was fast and she didn't want to lose him. Also, if this place was being baked by radiation, parts of her that she intended to use later in life were probably getting fried while she was just standing here.
"So," Andraste asked as the caught up him at the entrance to a turbolift, "You're sure this is a good idea?"
The angry young man who had been sent to rescue her gave her an irritated look. "What?"
"Everyone always says that in case of emergency, use the stairs. Or, you know, the Jeffries Tubes. And I'm pretty sure this would qualify."
"It's fine. I just used them," he answered, "Get inside."
Nimue did as she was asked. The other ensign followed her in and ordered the turbolift to take them to the bridge. They waited in silence for a moment as the machine came to life and began to move. Then the young woman broke the silence. "I'm Nimue, by the way."
"What?"
"Nimue. That's my name."
Cristiane gave her an incredulous look. "This is no time for introductions."
"I'm not going anywhere. Well…you know, I am actually. But…."
"It's Dane. All right? I'm Dane."
"Really? Do you make people call you "The Great Dane"? 'Cause I would totally do that if I were you."
Cristiane began to retort but he stopped when the turbolift suddenly shuddered and died, stuck in place.
Dane looked at Nimue, who simply raised a pert eyebrow at him.
"Not a word," he snapped, "Damn it! I hate this crap. I hate this stupid Starfleet piece of junk." He stopped yelling for a moment to think, and then said, "Okay. You're pretty small."
Andraste crossed her slender arms across her chest. "Hey!"
"I mean you're short."
"Hey!"
"You're petite. You're thin. Whatever. The point is that you look pretty light. I'll give you boost. Open the hatch at the top of the lift. We'll climb the rest of the way up."
"That's a good plan. But maybe we should try something first."
"What?"
She tapped her own combadge. "Serendipity, this is Ensign Andraste. Could you beam us out of here? Please."
[Acknowledged, Ensign,] a voice on the other end replied. [One moment.]
"See?" Nimue told Dane with a grin, "All you had to do was say the magic word."
A second later, the still smirking woman disappeared in the familiar glow of the transporter beam.
Cristiane, however, did not move from his position inside the frozen lift.
Dane's next word was extremely profane and spoken at very high volume. He didn't know why the Sera had lost their lock on him, but he only hoped that his charge had beamed safely back to the ship, and not ended up halfway through one of the bulkheads in between.
"Damn, I knew I should have made her open the hatch first." With little other choice, Dane literally began to climb the walls.
-=On the Executor's bridge=-
"I'm not leaving." Vox still insisted.
"Zanh to Serendipity, do you have Cristiane and the prisoner?"
[We have Ensign Andraste, Captain, but we lost our lock on Cristiane. Andraste says he was stuck in turbolift five beta when she was transported out. Commander Salvek is asking us to remind you. . .again. . .] Sue Tenney gulped nervously, [You're running out of time. We are losing our window for transport.]
Zanh growled and looked at O'Sullivan. "That's it. We don't have any more time to waste." She drew her phaser, and in one split second a look was exchanged between her and Vox.
Before Vox could react, Zanh set it to stun, and shot him.
O'Sullivan moved quickly toward the Admiral and caught him before he had a chance to fall to the deck.
"You're going to have a hell of a lot of explaining to do when he wakes up!"
"If I get out of here, I'll worry about it. Goodbye, Keiran." Zanh tapped her badge. “Zanh to Serendipity. Lock on to Vox and Sully. Energize!"
"No! Captain!" O'Sullivan objected, but he was too late. He was already transporting.
"Damn it, Dane," Zanh cursed as she headed toward the turbolift shaft. "You may really be the death of me, after all."
-------------------
Ensign Nimue Andraste
Now Aboard the Serendipity
and
Ensign Dane Cristiane
Communications Officer
Stuck in a turbolift on the Executor
Ensign Nimue Andraste
Now Aboard the Serendipity
and
Ensign Dane Cristiane
Communications Officer
Stuck in a turbolift on the Executor